Eclipse of the Heart
by Lenuvira Dostar
Summary: Draco and Harry are as different from each other as night and day. Harry being look up at from all angles and being seen as a hero, and Draco surrounded by darkness, only being praised by those who don’t care about him. The orbits of the sun and moon howe
1. Two house holds, both alike in dignity

_**Author: Lenuvira Dostar**_

_**R-English-Romance/Adventure Pg.11**_

_**Summary:**_ This is my first slash ever so please bare that in mind as you read it. This takes place after Order of the Phoenix; don't say I didn't warn you.

Draco and Harry are as different from each other as night and day. Harry being look up at from all angles and being seen as a hero, and Draco surrounded by darkness, only being praised by those who don't care about him. The orbits of the sun and moon however, always cross each other's paths, and it's only a matter of time before the two enemies start to open up to each other. Many things have happened to each of them and their inner selves are in a constant battle. They both need to get their feelings out somehow, but they both need something else as well…. or possibly _someone_ else.

_**Pairing:**_ Draco/Harry, of course :D Also a bit of Ron and Hermione and even…. well I'll let the third one be a mystery. All my personal favorites finally rolled up in one. I rated it R, because I'm detail oriented…some will like it and others will say TMI, you don't like it, don't read it.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Gosh, I wish I did own Harry and Draco…. I mean…never mind. You all know that I don't own the wonderful world that J.K. Rowling has created or any aspect of it, I'm just adding my own flavor to it;)Hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

* * *

_**Chapter one-Two house holds, both alike indignity

* * *

**_

_I don't want to talk, _

_about things we've gone through._

_Though it's hurting me,_

_now it's history…_

_The gods may throw a dice,_

_their minds as cold as ice,_

_and some one way down here,_

_looses someone dear._

_-The winner takes it all, ABBA

* * *

_

Walking into King's Crossing and moving in between the bustling people around him, Harry made his way swiftly away from the Dursley's as he walked in between platforms nine and ten, immerging in front of the scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express. Looking around him he craned his head over the noisy crowd of wizards and witched assembled around him, spotting a group of redheads up in the distance, an invisible load was lifted from Harry as he made his way towards them. His real family was waiting for him, just like always. Running up to the assembled Weasley's, Harry smiled as best he could, before he was enveloped in a group hug. Ron, right at his side, Ginny behind him, and Fred and George at his other side. Mr. Weasley was clapping him on the back, and Mrs. Weasley was almost on the verge of tears as she embraced Harry, lovingly as ever, asking question upon question towards him that made him become conscious of just how much he had missed the Weasley's over the summer.

"Oh Harry, dear. How are you? We've missed you so much, how was your summer? Are you Ok? Those muggles treated you good after the incident didn't they?"

A laugh rippled through those gathered around Harry at the mention of his summer. For the first time in a while, he laughed along with them, remembering the vacation he had spent this year with the Dursley's and what exactly had taken place at number four Privet Drive.

* * *

Dumbledore had said that it would be best if Harry stayed in the only place he was safe outside of Hogwarts, that being at his only living relatives home. Harry didn't like it one bit, especially since they didn't, and probably never would understand what had been going on, and was still going on in his world, the wizarding world. Harry had reluctantly gone to the Dursley's, but in no time at all he had gotten fed up. All the while he had been trying to get more information on what was going on in the wizarding world, from the muggle news, from the Daily Prophet, from anywhere, but Uncle Vernon had been fed up as well. He locked Harry in his room again and this time, locked Hedwig in the downstairs cupboard, preventing the Daily Prophet from arriving and preventing Harry from contacting anyone else. Harry had been furious, but unless he wanted to get expelled from school, he couldn't do anything about it. That all changed however the night that Errol showed up.

The old owl of the Weasley's had been sent because, naturally the family was worried, they hadn't heard from him at all and had grown anxious. As soon as Errol had recovered from his last flight, Harry sent him back with a very long letter with so much in depth information that it would have made Hermione proud. He had described to them every detail of how he was living at the Dursley's, and then some. The lack of food, his and Hedwig's imprisonment, the way each member of the Dursley's had taken turns coming up to the door of his room and shouting at him while pounding on his door at random times, and the lack of sleep he was getting. Even though the lack of sleep was more due to his dreams about his godfather and such, he still mentioned it in the letter. As he watched the silhouette of Errol fade away into the night, he prayed the old feather duster like owl managed to get to its destination.

No reply came, and Harry was beginning to worry about Errol and wondering if the Weasley's had gotten the letter or not, if maybe Dumbledor had prevented them from making contact with him, or if anything was wrong, but in two days time his worries evaporated. In two days time, both Molly and Arthur Weasley, Tonks, Remus, and Mad-eye Moody arrived at number four Privet Drive.

It was a chaotic scene as the Dursley's tried to stop the Order members from coming through the door. Uncle Vernon had recognized Mr. Weasley from two years before, when he had blown up the fireplace, and Fred and George had enlarged Dudley's tongue. The over weight man was attempting to prevent them from entering his house, but fell over when he saw the wands pointing at him. Aunt Petunia was beside herself with anger, yelling something about the neighbors seeing them in broad daylight, and about how she would call the police if they didn't leave.

No one paid attention to them as the five Order members each went off in there own direction. Tonks walking over to the cupboard beneath the stairs and opening it with a swish of her wand. Hedwig fluttered out angrily screeching as she flapped her wings, but calmed down a bit at the sight of the wizards and witches around her. Mr.Weasley stayed downstairs trying to talk to Harry's relatives, but they where trying to get as far away from Moody's roving eye as possible.

Harry had heard the commotion going on downstairs and was pressing his ear up to the door. All that he was able to make out was his Uncle's voice yelling, as usual, for someone to get back. Then footsteps came up the stairs and stopped at his door. Afraid that it was Aunt Petunia, he stepped back as the handle giggled a bit. Then there was a pounding, as if someone was throwing his or her weight onto the door. After a moment of silence, the door magically bust open with a loud bang. It squeaked on it's hinges half hanging from the side. Remus and Molly where standing in the frame of the door bickering,

"Well Molly it was locked and I didn't have the key now did I."

"That still gives you no right to blast the door open Remus, you could have used alohamora."

"Hello Harry, how are you?"

Beaming at the all too familiar sight of them, Harry walked over and embraced them with out saying a single word, his actions showing his gratitude more than words ever could. But before any of them where able to say anything else, a high pitched scream was heard from downstairs. Harry recognized it to be Aunt Petunia's in a split second. All of them looked at each other and walked down to find the most interesting scene that Harry had ever laid eyes on.

Tonks was at the base of the stairs positively limp from laughter with Hedwig perched on the banister of the stairs. Arthur Weasley was shocked about something, yet was still trying to calm Aunt Petunia and yell at Alastor Moody at the same time.

"Now, please there is no need to panic…Mad-eye honestly he wouldn't have hurt me…..we'll have him right as rain in no time…..won't we, Moody?"

At the center of the four, was a rather lumpy rat that was scurrying around the area. Dudley was nowhere to be seen, but since Aunt Petunia was screaming out,

"VERNON, oh my gosh…. don't you touch him…. Vernon!"

Harry had a pretty good idea that the rat was no ordinary house hold pest. What really made the scene funny was the fact that Aunt Petunia was afraid to get too close to her husband. She obviously was concerned out of her mind, but didn't want to get to close to the rat. Mrs. Weasley was looking at her own husband and back at the rat, then looking at the wand Moody was still pointing at the wandering animal as it ran around in circles on the carpet. Giving Moody the look she usually reserved for Fred and George, Mrs. Weasley placed her hands on her hips, speaking in a frighteningly severe tone she turned to Mad-eye and asked,

"Moody, what have you done?"

At this Tonks, who was trying to get back up from the floor, collapsed in to another fit of boisterous laughter, trying to say,

"..Isn't….it obvious…..Molly…..?"

No one took heed to Tonks' comment as Moody spoke up and said in a huffy like voice as if it was no big deal,

"He was going to punch Arthur, and was threatening us, I wasn't going to take that, so I turned him into something fitting."

Immediately Harry had had another vision of the past at that moment, this time not of a rat but of a bouncing white ferret, and he joined Tonks on the floor. The vivid memory of Draco Malfoy transfigure in his fourth year at Hogwarts by the Moody impersonator, playing over in his mind. He was lost in a genuine spasm of laughter like he hadn't had for a good amount of time. He barely heard Mrs. Weasley's words as she exclaimed,

"Oh, for heavens sake….Moody put him back to normal. Harry, Tonks get up and stop laughing. Arthur you might want to modify there memories."

"Don't you come near me or my family! Get away….you…you…freaks!"

It seemed Aunt Petunia was about to fain with a mixture of relief and fright as another loud pop rang through the hallway. Uncle Vernon re-appeared on the floor where the rat had last been, on all fours crouched down on the carpet, shivering from fright.

Even though it was a shame that his Uncle was back to "normal" and that the Order members had to leave him at Privet Drive, Harry was happy to be free of his room once more after that memorable afternoon. The Dursley's memories had not been modified, but there where still some changes around the house after that eventful day. In fact through the rest of the holiday, all Harry had seen of his relatives was Aunt Petunia's skirt as she ran from the room, heard Dudley squeal when he came close to his cousin and…. frankly he hadn't seen Uncle Vernon for a while, until September 1st that is.

By then they where acting very helpful towards Harry, helping him load his trunk in the car and courteously ignoring his on the entire way to London, they where most likely just keen to have him leave them for a while. Harry had the whole back seat to himself with Hedwig, as Dudley had insisted on sitting up front with his father and mother. The sheer sight of what seemed like two meatballs and a stick, amusing Harry for the whole entire journey to King's Cross.

* * *

Now he had left the Dursley's behind and was standing in the middle of a bright sunny day on platform 9 ¾ with his real family, his only family. Laughing and enjoying the little time they had together before the train departed and he went home, to Hogwarts.

At that moment a bit of the suns light reflected off of Ron's chest, catching Harry's attention, the badge he wore on his new robes was much bigger than the Prefect badge he had gotten last year. Looking closer he realized what it was and caught Ron's eye, asking,

"Ron, when did you get made Head Boy?"

Fred and George both took up this cue with a sigh and said,

"Oh, Harry isn't it awful, we have another one in the family. I just hope Ginny won't go down that shameful path too."

George gave Harry a smile as he said,

"Where just glad you didn't mate, it would keep you from all those adventures and all."

Winking at him and turning again to his brother the twins both looked in turn at Ron as they said alternating each sentence, getting closer to Harry and Ron so only they could hear,

"Of course you'll have to go alone now,"

"…Ron will be busy with his duties and all,"

"…unless you find your self a girl,"

"… then the adventures would really start."

Winking and grinning at Harry they stepped back a bit and Harry turned over to Ron just as his friends' ears had gone pink with embarrassment. It seemed he was about to explain how and what had happened, but was cut off by Harry's warm hug as he said,

"Congratulations mate."

Ron had been stunned speechless by Harry's move and was greatly relieved by his friends support. The two boys pulled apart, being looked at from all angles by the assembled Weasley's. Ron finally found his voice and said,

"Thanks Harry, that really means a lot to me. I got the letter a couple of days ago…and so did…."

"Harry! Ron!"

At that moment a ginger cat ran up to Harry and rubbed it's self on his leg, as its owner made it's way towards the group. Hermione came to stand temporarily in front of the two boys before hugging them both at the same time.

The trio pulled apart and Harry saw a similar badge on Hermione's chest. She had apparently, also been made Head Girl, to no surprise of anyone.

The three started to busily chatter about their summers; Hermione had spent it at the Weasley's since her parents had gone to France, they had gone to a conference for dentists or something. She had just met up with them and had gone to say good-bye before she had come up to the station. Ron had taught her a bit of quidditch over the summer, but had decided that it wasn't her forte. She had kept score most of the games that he and his brothers had been training Ginny to be chaser. Since Hermione was good at stuff like that she didn't mind, she didn't like to fly so she readily accepted the task of scorekeeper. Mean while Harry told them all the details of his own adventure at the Dursley's. His friends and audience where listening to his summer tale as intently as ever, not taking there eyes off of Harry, but there was some one else who wasn't taking there eyes of him as well.

* * *

Off to the side of the platform, Draco Malfoy was also sporting a Head Boy badge just like Hermione and Ron, and just like Hermione and Ron, he wasn't taking his eyes off of the jet black hair and the emerald eyes of the boy he so hated.

Walking off to the train he met Goyle and Crabbe, not even hesitating to say good-bye to his mother, who like him, wasn't stopping to say good-bye either and disappearing in the opposite direction. Getting together with his Slytherin house members he was welcomed immediately, before they boarded the train, the Slytherins making a tight knit group around their respected Head Boy. The white blond hair slightly fluttering back as the steam from the train blew at him, hiding his steely gaze and preventing anyone from seeing that the Slytherin boy was still looking at Harry and his friends. With one flourishing sweep of his robes, Draco was gone inside the compartments of the train, walking away from the group of housemates towards the Head Boy and Girl compartments.

* * *

At the opposite end of the train station, Harry, Ron, and Hermione where saying there last good-byes before they too went to board the train. Harry opened the cage that contained Hedwig and released her into the air. Watching the snowy owl glide through the sky in the general direction that the tracks where headed, to Hogwarts.

Looking back at his adopted family, he too said his good-byes and boarded the train, as the whistle went off with a loud piercing blast. As they got on and the train slowly started moving, Harry watched as Ron and Hermione left in the direction of the Head Boy and Girl compartments. Ginny made some excuse about going to see a friend of hers, and also left in the same direction.

Smiling and taking in a deep breath Harry went to the back of the train. They're where less and less people there as he walked past the compartments, finally coming upon the last one, and opening the door. Sliding his school trunk in, he hoisted it up to the racks with a heave. Once it was firmly secured he then slumped down on the seat, gazing out the window at the passing buildings as they gained speed. The rhythmic motion starting to lull Harry into a trans as he looked out the windowpane and watched the speeding London passing by.

After a while Harry had started to reflect back on his past and on what had happened his last term, he had been putting this off for a while, but now that he was a lone, in the world he belonged to, it seemed almost fitting that his thoughts should wander back to his godfather.

A single tear started to roll down his cheek, the green of his shimmering eyes matching the countryside as he stayed there, his robes spread haphazardly and almost elegantly around him. His left hand across his stomach and his right, fingering his wand at his side.

Only getting up so that he could buy a couple of cauldron cakes from the trolley, he stayed there looking out the window, lonely and yet content as ever. Because he knew he was on his way home, with his friends somewhere nearby and no more worries of what the Dursley's where up to, let alone anyone else.

Vaguely aware that there where dull thuds of footsteps coming closer and closer to the end of the train, Harry finished the last bit of cauldron cakes and kept looking out the window wiping off a tear just as the door of the compartment opened.

Not turning he expected it to be Ron and Hermione finally coming to see him on the last bit of the journey. But the reflection from the window made him catch his breath, as his hand instinctively went to grasp his wand. Spinning around in the seat his burning green eyes met a pair or cold silver ones as he stared at Draco Malfoy's face. Standing up slowly and cautiously both boys faced each other with their wands at the ready, the tension building around them, as it always did in their encounters.

It seemed as if time it's self had stopped while the Slytherin and Gryffindor looked at each other, neither wavering, and neither saying a thing but screaming at each other with their eye contact. The first to move was Harry, as his tight lips parted to speak at his enemy standing before him,

"Can't wait to get to school, huh Malfoy, have to start it all up again before anyone gets comfortable. At best your troubles will get you some day into Azkaban, just like your father…. but then again it's your life's goal to be just like him isn't it."

A sharp intake of breath followed Harry's words as they hung in the thickly charged air around them,

"I will make you pay for what you did to my father, Potter. If it's the last thing I do, I swear….."

"You really shouldn't swear Malfoy, it wouldn't be very gentlemen like. You need to uphold the filthy name of Malfoy now don't you."

"Shut up Potter!"

If Harry hadn't known any better he would have sworn he had just seen the other boy shiver as he had spoken. Both wands where still pointed at the other and before either of them knew it, they seemed to be flicking at both boys, as if they had a will of there own. Both of their lips parted at the same time as each yelled out at the same instant the disarming spell,

"Expelliarmus!"

A shot of blue light flashed at both boys' hands, like lightning zapping trough the distance between them. The two wands went soaring into the air away from their owners, and both boys where left in a sickened and startled daze. They both stood there for an instant, looking at each other with deep emotions burning through their vein, and this time it was Draco who moved first.

Lunging out at his own wand, which lay behind Harry by the window, Draco tried to get at it before anything else happened. Harry though, had grown used to detecting small movements through the years of seeker practice and quidditch. Noticing the movement in the other boys muscles, he also threw himself, but not at the wand. His body hit Draco's as he successfully prevented the Slytherin from getting the wand. The force had knocked both of them down to the ground, Harry attempting to pin Draco down to the floor, as the other boy tried to punch him in the face.

Harry's hand slipped in the fabric on Draco's shoulders, leaving him free range for an instant. Before he knew it there was a blur of a fist coming at Harry's head, making contact and causing his lip to bleed. Harry returned the punch at the cheek of the other boy, as Draco took in a quick breath. The boys twisted on the floor each infuriated by the others actions and each trying to punch and kick at the other.

Breaths where coming short as both of them continued fighting in the compartment, the others on board completely oblivious to what was happening in the last compartment of the train. Making scoff remarks here and there at each other they did there best at trying to beat the other to pieces,

"I'll get you for all you've done to me Potter"

Another swing came at Harry, as the boy beneath him said this. Ducking the blow, he attempted to kick Draco's shin while saying,

"What have I ever done to you Malfoy? You're the one who starts all this, notice you came to me."

The two bodies tumbled over and Draco's body was hovering on top of Harry's as he shook him with anger, his silver eyes like shards of glass.

"That is one of the stupidest things you have ever asked. But I suppose someone as thick as you wouldn't know the pain I'm going through."

At these words something in the back of Harry's mind was triggered, and memories came flowing through his intellect. Every unwelcome memory he had ever had, now came surging forward in his brain. Before he knew what was happening he was watching in his mind, Sirius. His godfather was falling again, through the veil in a graceful and haunting like arch as he plummeted, and just as his godfather's body fell completely through the veil, a burst of emotion made Harry throw the other boy down as he rolled over and pinned him furiously to the floor.

His hands shaking slightly at what Draco had said a moment before; Harry took a shaky breath as his emerald eyes cut into the Slytherin underneath him. Speaking through his clenched teeth Harry's words came out like a hiss as he said,

"How dare you speak of pain. You have no right, to lecture me on that topic Malfoy! You don't know what's like, and don't pretend that you do…"

His words where cut off by the struggling boy beneath him,

"I have every right, Potter! I do know what it feels like to…"

The boys words where cut off this time, not by a strike from Harry, or even a nasty remark, but by a tear. A single tear that had come from the forest green eyes, splattering on his left cheek almost burning into his pale skin. Looking up at the boy he realized that Harry had no clue that he was crying, no idea that his tear had hit his nemesis harder that any blow he would be able to offer with his bare hands. Another thought struck him as he looked into those green eyes, the eyes that everyone said belonged to this boy's mother, the mother this boy didn't have. Potter was right, and how Draco hated that, the very thought of his own parents and this boys parents….

The silver eyes of the boy beneath him where starting to water as Harry looked down at him. Fear like none other grabbed a hold of Harry as he watched the tears in his boys eyes threaten to flow over the rim of his lashes. Harry hesitated and realized that he himself had and was shedding tears. Lifting up his hands and moving them over to his eyes he tried in vain to clear the tears away. His godfather was the only thing on his mind as he felt a sharp stinging pain in his left cheek. Looking down again at the Slytherin, he took in the fact that he had just been slapped by Malfoy, and that they where both crying on the floor of the Hogwarts Express. They locked eyes contact with each other, neither moving nor making a sound, Harry's body hovering on top of Malfoy's as he looked down at him.

Both boys started to get up, their faces back to the way they had been before they had started to fight. The tears had made both their faces rosy and there eyes glistened in the light from the setting sun that streamed in through the window. Both of the boys left cheeks where stinging, Harry's from the slap, and Draco's from the tear drop. Time halted once more, as both looked at each other, numb from what had happened in that compartment.

They both moved at the same time, each shifting around the other to get to their own wands on opposite ends of the room. Once there hands closed around the wood of the wands they both made to put them away, just as the door to the compartment opened again.

Hermione and Ron where walking in with faces of disgust and worry as they fell upon Malfoy. The two stopped and blocked the open door as Draco turned from the two new comers and back to Harry,

"This is just the beginning Potter. Mark my words."

Ron looked at Hermione in a concerned way as if asking if it was Ok to throw a curse at him then and there. Hermione however was not looking at Ron, but at the other two faces in the room. Something else had gone on there, and she felt the air in between the two charged, as if there was fire burning in between them. A fire so intense, that if anyone else would try to put out they would be easily over whelmed, in fact she didn't think they wanted anyone to put it out at all. Turning to Harry she gave him a quizzical look, the two boys however, where not looking at her and Ron, but at each other, and she felt as if they didn't know that they had even arrived.

Draco put his wand into his robes and gathering himself up once more, he turned to the Head Boy and Girl of Gryffindor and walked past them, thrusting himself in between them as he walked by. Making his way down the corridor, he tried to put as much distance between him and Potter as possible not realizing that a tear was rolling down his pale skin once more.

Ron and Hermione sat down across from Harry, watching him as he sat back down and put his own wand away. A sigh escaped his lips as he looked out at the darkening sky, his reflection coming back to meet him, a tear rolling down the face of the boy that looked back, mingling with the blood from his lips.

"I miss him…. he was the closest thing I ever got to my parents…. he doesn't know, he'll never know!"

Harry's thoughts had been drifting back to his godfather, but somehow ended up back at Malfoy and what had just taken place. Ron and Hermione sat across from him not knowing what to do, feeling help less and as if their friend had been separated from them, off to a place where few could ever reach him.

* * *

As the train kept moving forward towards it's destination cutting through the nigh, two boys so different and yet so similar in their own ways, rested there heads back on the seats of their compartments, as water came rolling down their stinging left cheeks. 


	2. Falling through the rising odds

_**Author: Lenuvira Dostar**_

_**R-English-Romance/Adventure Pg. 11**_

_**Summary of events:**_ So far Harry spent the summer with the Dursley's. The Order members came to visit him once and left. On the way to Hogwarts Harry had a fight with Draco on the Hogwarts Express. Ron, Hermione and Draco got made Head Boy and Girl of their house. Ginny has been training to be chaser on the house team and Draco's father is in Azkaban along with other death eaters. Let the adventure continue;)

* * *

_**Chapter two-Falling through the rising odds

* * *

**_

_Someone I am, _

_is waiting for my courage._

_The one I want,_

_the one I will be come will catch me…_

_So let me fall,_

_if I must fall._

_I won't heed your warnings, _

_I won't hear them._

_-Let me fall, Josh Groban

* * *

_

Much had happened since Harry had left the Dursley's and had gone home to Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione and him, where kept busy for a while ever since they had gotten back. Ron and Hermione where constantly occupied with their Head Boy and Girl duties, just as Fred and George had predicted. Harry on the other hand, had been extremely busy with Quidditch.

* * *

After the Dursley's had been forced to let Harry out of his room, Harry had gotten a big package from the Weasley's, they had taken the freedom of sending him his books for the term, along with a good amount of money from his vault in Gringotts. Attached to the package was a congratulations letter from the whole family, on what, Harry didn't have the slightest idea, until a handsome screech owl arrived a day later with a letter from Professor McGonagall, Head of his house.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_I am extremely pleased to have the privilege of informing you that you have been chosen to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. With this enormous honor, comes the ability to schedule team practices, come up with plays for the team and enforce the rules to your team members. Also there is need for two more Gryffindor chasers, consequently you will then need to head the tryouts and see to it that the best possible candidate is chosen to fill these positions, the team as of now stand as such,_

_Captain & Seeker Harry Potter_

_Keeper Ronald Weasley_

_Chasers Katie Bell, (two positions open)_

_Beaters Jack Sloper & Andrew Kirke_

_You will also take note that you have the option of choosing a Co-Captain to help you with any of the things necessary for the teams' success in this up coming term. Once again I congratulate you and hope that you will exercise this privilege with responsibility._

_Deputy Head Mistress, & Head of Gryffindor House-_

_Minerva M. McGonagall _

Harry had been completely taken aback by this, considering the fact that last year he had been placed under a life time ban of quidditch. Yet seeing the roster of this year made him remember that Ginny had resigned her post on the team, and was to be trying out for the chaser position, and that had left the seeker position open for him once more.

The rest of the vacation he had spent working out plays for the team and contacting all the team members, with the help of Hedwig. Each member of the team had congratulated him as well, and was looking forward to the start of the school year. Ron had confirmed that yes, Ginny had quit the seeker position and that him, Fred and George where now training her to be a chaser. Harry wished her the best of luck and had taken the time to ask Ron if he would like to be Co-Captain of the team.

He hadn't gotten a reply back from his friend until his birthday, the gifts of his friends arriving by owl in the middle of the night. First came Ron and Hermione's gift, they had both pitched in and bought Harry a quidditch playbook. Inside the cover of the black leather binding was the roster of the team, with Co-Captain written next to Ron's name. The sight of that making Harry feel more at ease with the decision that had made him Captain. Just knowing that his friend would be by his side helping him out, made things a whole lot better.

The next gift to arrive was Hagrid's, it was a small birthday cake and a good-sized carving knife. Once again the note attached congratulated him on his new position on the team, and wished him a Happy Birthday. The Weasley's had sent him a small birthday cake as well and to his dismay the other Order members had sent him gifts also.

Tonks had sent him a book of spells to keep his Firebolt in the best condition possible, and a copy of Quidditch through the ages. Remus, a Defense against the Dark arts book, for advanced levels. Harry didn't know why, since most of the books he would need for school would have these spells in it. However once he looked at the schoolbook list he noticed that the book for Defense against the Dark arts, was the one that Remus had given him and that coincidentally, the Weasley's hadn't gotten him a copy of this book. Guessing correctly he assumed that Dumbledore had hired Remus for the job of Professor again. It was really no surprise to Harry, considering the fact that he was the only teacher to have made it through one year in that position with out being traumatized out of there wits, being given permanent amnesia, locked in a trunk for the whole year, or killed. It made sense for Remus to come and teach that class, apart from the fact that he was the best teacher any of them had ever had.

The next gift that had come for Harry was from Moody, it was a small glass sphere that hung by a thick gold chain. Attached to it was not a congratulations note or even a Happy Birthday, but rather something Moody would call, useful. The small sphere was about the size of a marble, clear glass that was warm to the touch. The note read,

_Potter, _

_This is an allemotion globe, it's small I know, but highly useful. You can find better use for it when you start training to be an auror, if that is still what you want. There are only two in existence, I was owner of both at one time, currently Dumbledore has one and you the other. What it does, is glow with different colors according to the emotion someone is feeling. It's magic is centered around empathy, and you might say it senses the auras of the people around you and analyzes them, as well as your own. Use it wisely and exercise caution with it. Don't let anyone but your most trusted friends know about it, and even that I would warn you against. Good luck at school, and use your head._

_Moody_

Placing it around his neck Harry had observed it for a long time and noticed that it glowed at the moment with a faint pink light. Hedwig was perched on his shoulder, and rubbing herself on his cheek, he guessed that the pink color might be because of what Hedwig was feeling. What the other colors that it might change to where and stood for, Harry didn't know, Moody hadn't said anything about that.

Getting up from his bed, he put away his gifts and cards in his school trunk. Digging deeper he got out a bit of parchment, ink and a quill and started to write back to Moody asking him, what the different colors where and what they stood for. Once he was finished and the ink had dried up, he felt Hedwig beat her wings in anticipation of another delivery and fastened the note to her outstretched leg. Opening the window he watched as the snowy owl disappeared into the night sky. It wasn't long before she came back with an extremely short note from Moody saying,

_Potter_

_Well use your head boy, didn't I tell you that already? That's for you to figure out, even if I did know all the emotions and it's colors I wouldn't tell you. I will tell you this, the more intense the emotion the brighter the glow._

_Moody_

"Thanks Moody, load of help that was."

Grumbling about what Moody had written, he looked once more at the marble like sphere that hung at his neck. It was glowing dimly at the moment, so faint he could barely make out that it was a hue of purple.

Tucking it under his shirt he had kept it close to him at all times, not telling a soul of what he had and who had given it to him. As far as he knew, only Moody, him and possibly Dumbledore knew about this.

Across the time he had left at the Dursley's, he had copied down his plays for quidditch in his new play book, kept a piece of parchment in his pocket with a list of all the colors he could think of, and the emotions he thought they might be, as the globe sparkled to each of his own feelings.

* * *

As time passed, Harry had started to forget that he was wearing something so rare and special right above his heart. The faint weight of the globe had become so much a part of him, that he didn't even feel the faint burning of the marble size glass ball when a faint emotion was spreading over him or someone near him. He only remembered that he wore it when it blazed with an intense feeling along with the strong emotions it was sensing, like he was feeling it now.

Looking under his robes, his eyes where flooded with a golden light coming off of the sphere above his chest. Placing his hand over it he knew what that emotion was, pride. Looking up into the air he took the whistle in his left hand and brought it up to his lips. Giving it a sharp blow every broom in the air halted, and the quaffle dropped through the air. Harry was right under it and reaching out his hand, he grasped it with a firm grip in his right hand. Motioning to everyone in the air to come down, he stood waiting for them in the center of the quidditch pitch.

He was proud of everyone that had come out to tryout for the two chaser positions, especially Ginny, she had shown great skill and talent at handling the quaffle and shooting through the other players. Her maneuvering skills where impeccable and her small size was used as an advantage to her. The rest of those that had tried out where not that bad, but some could use all the help they could get.

Among those that had turned up to tryout for the Gryffindor quidditch team, had come as quite a surprise to Harry, such as Neville. No offense to his friend, but Harry thought he should stick to Herbology. Another one of his dorm mates that had shown up and demonstrated great promise was Seamus.

The boy had also maneuvered well through the air on his broom, handling the quaffle with easy. He wasn't as agile as Ginny, but he had more strength than her, and together, Harry thought they would be quite good indeed. There where others though had to be taken into consideration of course, but none really compared to Seamus and Ginny.

What Harry really was curious about though, was why Neville had come to try out in the first place. He knew the boy didn't really like flying, and after the first years flying lessons, Harry honestly couldn't blame him at all. Remembering the first time he had ridden on a broom brought another feeling over him, as he went through the moment when Malfoy had thrown Neville's rememberall and had in a way, gotten Harry to be on the team in the first place, speaking of the Slytherin.

At the opposite end of the field as Harry was congratulating every one on there good efforts and telling them that the decision would be posted on the weekend in the bulletin board, a small wave of green was approaching the gathering of the Gryffindors. At the head of the Slytherin mass was Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. They where also having chaser tryouts and where scheduled to be right after the Gryffindors. Harry immediately saw that Malfoy was headed straight towards them and stepping through the assembled housemates, Harry placed himself in between the Slytherin and his own house members, Ron at his side.

The Slytherins stayed behind Draco as he approached Potter and stopped right in front of the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. A hush fell upon the entire crowd as the two boys faced off once more, just like they had on the train. A warm almost burning feeling was flowing over Harry starting from the middle of his chest and radiating out. He could feel the small sphere glowing brightly underneath his quidditch robes, and assumed that it was the anger and hatred that he felt for the other boy.

The two Captains didn't say a word but started to herd there charges around each other as the Gryffindors left the field and the Slytherins took to the air. Harry looked at Draco with a piercing gaze, and with one swift and sharp movement threw the quaffle over at the other boy. Draco caught it with an equal amount of dexterity and raised an eyebrow at his opponent. Turning around Harry started to lead the Gryffindors out and towards the castle. A sharp blow of another whistle told Harry that the quaffle had been released by Draco, and that their tryouts had begun. With each step he took he felt the heat of the sphere recede as he put more distance in between him and the Slytherin. With out warning, he suddenly stopped on the steps towards the castle, he felt Neville slam into him and fall back, hitting the ground,

"Oooff."

Turning around he saw Ron lend a hand to help his dorm mate up as Harry looked at the small crowd, then back at the quidditch pitch saying,

"I've changed my mind, the list of the two that made it to the team will be up tomorrow. We need to start practices as soon as possible if we want to beat Slytherin in our first match. Is that ok by every one?"

Everyone in front of Harry gave an eager and excited nod, as he smiled at them, still keeping his eyes on the swooping figures of those in the quidditch pitch. Spinning around on his heels Harry started to head back up to the Gryffindor tower, his quidditch robes waving behind him a bit with each step he took.

Flipping through the notes on each player that he had taken through out the tryouts, he didn't notice that he was walking straight at Professor Lupin, who was walking down the halls and smiling at the figure of Harry, immersed in his notes. Hitting the man square in the chest as he walked right into him, Harry staggered back a bit and was received by a warm smile from his teacher. Returning the gesture, the rest of the Gryffindors, lead by Ron started to disperse, seeing that Harry would probably want to talk a bit with the Defense against the Dark arts Professor. Not noticing that the people around him where leaving, Harry nodded at Professor Lupin and said,

"Sorry Re…I mean Professor. I was reading through my notes and, didn't notice where I was going."

The smile on the tired young face widened a bit as Lupin looked down at Harry.

"That's quite alright Harry, what notes where you reading through? Not potions for my guess, I dare say you're not that eager to be reading through them in the middle of the hall."

Laughing at the teacher's comment he nodded and started to walk in the opposite direction, beside Remus.

"No, not potions, I was just coming back from the quidditch team tryouts. I was looking over the notes I took on each persons performance and such."

Nodding at Harry with a faint and distant look in his eyes, he was sharply reminded of the boy's father and how he too had been just like the boy in front of him. Always immersed in something, and more often than not, quidditch. Lupin motioned for Harry to enter his office as he held the door open for the Gryffindor. Going through the door Harry looked around at the room as he made his way to one of the comfortable chairs in front of Lupin's desk. Remus busied himself with a pot of tea and after a while, started to pore some for Harry as the boy looked through his notes once more.

They both sat down and started to drink the warm liquid in each others company, while Harry described each persons performance and who would probably be best for the team, Remus giving his input here and there. They both sat there for a good amount of time discussing quidditch and the quidditch plays Harry had planed out. The hands in the clock swiftly passed by, and the two in the room continued to laugh and debate with each other over the notes on the parchment in Harry's script.

* * *

The roar of the excited crowd outside flowed through the air and met Harry's ears inside the quidditch changing rooms while he gave his team the pre-game pep talk. Ginny and Seamus shifting eagerly and excitedly next to each other in between Ron and Andrew, one of the beaters.

They had both been ecstatic in being placed into the team, and Neville had readily congratulated Ginny and Seamus as there names where placed on the bulletin board by Ron in the house common room.

The practices that followed had been vigorous and tiring, but very good nonetheless. Ginny and Seamus worked in perfect harmony with Katie as they passed the quaffle here and there making there way towards the goal posts, only to be blocked by Ron.

Harry had started to feel hopeless with the beaters as they kept coming up on the bludgers clumsily and hitting them in incorrect angels towards their targets. Harry didn't know how to train them, so he had owled Fred and George for help. Instead of an owl however, they came in person, saying that they needed to make the trip anyways, since they where opening another one of there joke shops at Hogsmead.

They had helped Harry train the two current beaters as best they could, with the approval of Dumbledore and McGonagall of course. Consequently Jack and Andrew got more practice than the rest of the team, but the hard work paid off in the end. Sure they where nowhere near as good as Fred and George had been, but they where getting better. They now where cleaner on their brooms as they flew at the bludgers, and now they hit them accurately in the direction they intended them to go in, instead of at their own chasers.

Harry ended his talk and wished his team the best of luck. He had no worries with his team now really, Ron had over come his fear of the crowd entirely, and Ginny, Seamus and Katie had been good under pressure. Harry was a bit anxious with Jack and Andrew but after remembering that they where against Crabbe and Goyle, he started to feel much better. As they made there way to the door of the pitch, the noise started to rise outside as they waited behind the field opening. Ginny and Seamus at Harry's sides, smiling at both of them he whispered,

"You'll be perfectly fine. Just do what you do best."

He received a warm appreciative smile from Ginny and a relaxed grin from Seamus. Mounting their brooms the doors burns open and the roar of the crowd blasted to its full volume. Harry pushed off the ground and went soaring into the clear blue sky, the voice of the new announcer, Colin Creevey, booming through the air proclaiming their names to everyone in the stands,

"Here they are ladies and gentlemen, the Gryffindor quidditch team. Chasers are Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, and Katie Bell. Keeper and Co-Captain, Ron Weasley, Beaters Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke, and the one, the only, the best Captain Gryffindor has ever had and will ever have….

"Creevey! Honestly your just as bad as Jordan."

McGonagall's stern voice cut through Colin's ranting of his idol before he continued,

"Sorry Professor…Harry Potter. Also the best seeker ever to have played in …."

"Creevey, the Slytherin team!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the voices of his Head of house and his housemate as they where magically magnified so that the whole stands could hear them. At the bottom of the pitch Harry saw Madam Hooch come out with the case of the different quidditch balls as he and his team made a couple of laps around the pitch for warm up. The Slytherin team was announced with less enthusiasm from Harry's fellow Gryffindor, and the air was now filled with scarlet and emerald robes waving like banners on the speeding brooms.

A whistle blew and Madam Hooch motioned to the teams in the middle of the pitch, her broom in one hand and the whistle in the other. The fourteen players touched down on opposite sides of the referee. Looking at the two teams, Madam Hooch reminded them of the rules and such as she kicked the crate on the floor open. The bludgers flew out immediately as the lid popped open. The snitch joined them as it fluttered for a moment in front of Harry and then Draco. The two seekers looked at the golden walnut sized ball as it sped off into the air. Madam Hooch stooped down and picked up the quaffle, turning to both the captains of the team as she said in a slightly tense voice,

"Now, shake hands, and mount your brooms. On my whistle the game will begin."

Harry looked at the steely eyes across from him and he felt the small orb under his chest glow intensely once more. Tentatively reaching out his hand it was as if the whole stadium had been put on mute. Everyone was holding their breaths as the two captains reached out towards each other and grasped each other's hands. A heat was washing over Harry as he tried not to break the other boys hand in his grip, the sphere was glowing so intensely under his robes that it almost burned his skin.

Releasing his opponents hand Harry mounted his Firebolt with out taking his eyes off of Malfoy. The volume had returned to normal all around the stands and as the two teams mounted their brooms, following there captains lead they got ready to take off.

A sharp blast of the whistle went off and Harry knew no more as he pushed off from the ground. He saw Ginny weave in and take hold of the red quaffle first, as it was thrown high in the air by Madam Hooch. Speeding through the other chasers she passed to Seamus who was ahead of her a bit. Ron was already at his post by the goal and Harry hovered high up in the air away from the chaos of the two teams attempting to fight over the quaffle.

A bludger came his way from Crabbe but was hit back by one of his own beaters. Smiling at the swift reaction of the beater Harry nodded in compliment to him, as Jack looked back at his captain. The game was going well, Ginny had scored the first goal and was making very good passes to Seamus and Katie. So far the Slytherin team had only gotten possession of the quaffle twice. Both times being stopped from making a goal by Ron, who reacted with a swift confidence and agility.

"Gryffindor in possession once more, Weasley weaving in and out through the other team. Aaahhh watch out, the bludger the bludger…"

Colin's voice ran out in panic as a bludger came speeding at Ginny, being sent her way from Goyle. She rolled over in the air avoiding the canon like ball, but loosing her grip on the quaffle. The Gryffindor crowd booed as the quaffle fell and was caught by one of the Slytherin chasers.

"Slytherin team in possession now, moving swiftly towards the goal…"

The bludger however had changed its course as it was hit by Andrew. It now sped through the air straight at the chaser who was oblivious to it. A dull thud was heard as the black speeding ball made contact with the chasers arm.

"Nice hit by Kirke from Gryffindor, you deserved that you…."

"Creevey!"

"Sorry Professor."

The quaffle was now falling once more, this time it was Seamus who caught it and tossed it up to Ginny who was speeding towards the other end of the pitch. The Slytherin chaser appeared to be Ok, but looked sore as he rubbed his arm forcefully.

"Gryffindor in possession once more and its Finnigan to Weasley, to Bell. There they go…. coming upon the goal post now!"

They where speeding towards the goal, all three in the formation Harry recognized immediately to be one of his trick plays, the Slytherin chasers right on their tail. Katie was still holding the quaffle as she got closer and closer to their destination; Seamus dropped back and Ginny speed up as Katie pretended to drop the quaffle on accident,

"Oh, no…. that was ……hang on, yes. YES!"

Ginny had grabbed the quaffle and had put it through the bottom hop effortlessly at the last moment. Speeding back towards her teammates Ginny flew in the opposite direction ready for the quaffle once more.

"The score is, Gryffindor 50, Slytherin 0!"

At that moment of joy and pride at his team Harry saw it. The crowd was not paying attention, the Gryffindors where shouting with joy and the Slytherins booing in anger. To his right Harry saw the gold flash by the base of the Hufflepuff stands. The snitch was hovering calmly among the yellow of the house colors, and if the sun hadn't made it sparkle, Harry honestly wouldn't have seen it. Looking around Harry saw that Malfoy was a good distance away from him, yelling orders at his team. Harry's own team was looking at him, and giving them the thumbs up he started to dive, going into a free fall as he speed through the air heading towards the walnut sized ball.

There was a sharp intake from the crowd as Harry plummeted and a cheer rang through the Gryffindor crowd. Draco had noticed the Gryffindors sharp move and was leaning his whole body on the broom handle, urging his broom to go faster at the other seeker, his team completely forgotten.

The rest of the Gryffindor team took advantage of the distraction and started to pass the quaffle with ease through the Slytherins and coming upon the goal post just as Harry was reaching his hand out towards the snitch.

"Gryffindor in possession of the quaffle and Potter right on the tail of the snitch. Malfoy is way behind, honestly he needs to wake up and see….."

"Creevey one more time and I'll!"

Actually Malfoy was right on Harry's tail, and gaining ground. Harry could hear the other boys' breath and his broom coming closer to him. The sphere started to burn once more underneath Harry's robes, as Malfoy got closer. Just as the snitch switched direction and started to go straight across and away from both seekers, a roar went up at the other end of the field as Colin called out once more,

"Another ten points for Gryffindor! That makes it Gryffindor 60 and Slytherin 0! Potter and Malfoy are neck and neck right now, come on, come on…."

They where at each other's sides now, both having pulled out from the dive and following the snitch. Even though the beaters from either side wanted to hit the bludgers at the opposite seeker, they where each afraid of hitting there captain and suffering their wrath. All motion from the other players stopped as Harry reached out towards the snitch, Malfoy not far behind. It was just out of his reach and he was already going at full speed, at the same level as the top of the stands slowly inclining up towards the clear sky. Malfoy was still not relenting and each of their desires to catch the snitch first burned deeply in them. The glow of the orb on Harry chest feeling like it was going to explode. Suddenly Harry felt a shove from the side and his body flew farther forward, his hand clasping around the fluttering golden orb that was the snitch, as he fell.

Draco had become frustrated and had attempted to push Potter out of the way, but only succeeded in pushing his opponent towards his prize. The shove however had also pushed the Gryffindor off his broom, slipping forward and off. His hand tried to keep a hold of the slick wood, but failed. There was a flutter of scarlet and gold robes as Harry fell through the sky towards the ground, his broom following lead. His raven colored hair blowing around with the long robes that flapped at his side, like long elegant and broken wings falling in a graceful arch. Harry kept a hold of the snitch as his limbs moved up wards against the pull of gravity.

He was vaguely aware of a swooshing sound of another broom, gaining speed trying to reach him as he turned to face the earth that was coming to meet his body. His torso made contact with the earth first and he felt a wave of intense pain course through his body as he heard someone above him yell out,

"Nooo!"

The crowd above his was also yelling, but Harry couldn't hear them anymore. He couldn't feel the soft grass under his body, or the struggling snitch in his right hand. He couldn't see Malfoy touch down and attempt to run over to him, only to be stopped by Ron. He wasn't aware of anything anymore as he shut his eyes, and his world went black.


	3. Dreaming in color

_**Author: Lenuvira Dostar**_

_**R-English-Romance/Adventure **_

_**Summary of events:**_ Ok, so in the last chapter Harry gets an empathy globe from Moody as a birthday gift. Harry and Draco are made quidditch captains of their teams. They are playing against each other in their first quidditch game of the season. Ginny and Seamus are the new chasers for the Gryffindor team. Gryffindor is leading 60 to nothing. Harry spots the snitch, and Draco follows him. Draco pushes him from behind and Harry catches snitch, and falls off his broom. Enjoy this next chapter it starts to pick up speed;) Also the chapters will gradually start to get longer, so you have a fair warning now :D

* * *

_**Chapter three- Dreaming in color

* * *

**_

_Where have all the good men gone,_

_and where are all the gods?_

_Where's the street wise Hercules,_

_to fight the rising odds?…_

_I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night._

_He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast,_

_and he's gotta be fresh from the fight._

_-Holding out for a hero, Bonnie Tyler

* * *

_

Draco watched in a stunned horror as Potter fell through the air, bursting into speed once more he desperately tried to reach the boy before he hit ground, as the scarlet robes fluttered upwards. It was too late, Harry hit the ground with a sickening thud and crack, his right hand still clasped around the snitch, crimson robes coming to settle gracefully around the body on the ground. Shaking his head attempting to get that nauseating sound out, he screamed,

"Nooo!"

Touching down hard, he staggered forward and then tried to run over to the boy on the ground, but was stopped by Ron as the keeper grabbed him from the side and pulled him away from the other seeker. A look of fury burning in the other Gryffindors eyes as he kept a firm grip on the green robes of the other boy. Speaking through his clenched teeth Ron whispered to the Slytherin while bringing him closer,

"If anything happened, I swear Malfoy, I will personally kill you."

Shoving the keeper off and straightening his robes, Draco tried to get to the injured boy again, but was blocked by the entire Gryffindor team, the two beaters facing him with their clubs menacingly swinging in front of them.

Madam Pomfrey scurried out on the field and went straight out to Harry, as he lay deadly still on the ground. Waving her wand she made the Gryffindors body rise and hover in the air as she delicately turned him over. His closed eyes where framed with the glasses that where now broken in odd places, bits of the glass where still on the ground glinting in the sun light. Madam Pomfrey started to direct the limp boys body towards the castle, insisting that everything would be fine. The team followed their injured captain, leaving the Slytherin in the quidditch pitch as the stands started to empty. Everyone was slowly making his or her way back to the castle as the final score was announced. The eager and excited voice of Colin Creevey ringing out over the stands as he said,

"Harry'll be fine, he always is. So Gryffindor wins, 210 to nothing. Nice try Malfoy but it won't work…."

"That's quite enough out of you, the game's over!"

"Right Professor McGonagall, sorry."

The stands emptied and the Slytherin team touched down next to their captain, smiling and clapping him on the back and congratulating him on a job well done. Each one was smiling wickedly to themselves on what had happened to the other seeker, thanks to their leader. Crabbe was laughing in a dull manner as he said,

"Did you see his face as he fell? I bet he started to cry when he hit the ground."

The mention of Harry crying made Draco remember the train ride to Hogwarts and what had happened in the last compartment. Shoving his teammate out of the way Draco started to go to the changing rooms, but stopped and turned to his left as he saw something catch the light of the sun.

Turning completely, he saw Potter's Firebolt on the vivid green grass, the same color of Harry's eyes, who was probably now up at the hospital wing being fussed over by the nurse. Walking over to the forgotten broom, he kneeled down and ran a finger across the finish of the wood; it was still warm from its owner's body heat. A subtle shiver ran down Draco's back as he grasped the broom, he stood up and hugged it close to him so that his teammates wouldn't see it. All of them had been too busy talking about the game that indeed, they didn't pay any attention as their captain walked off the pitch swiftly towards the changing rooms with two brooms in his hands.

* * *

"What happened…what's happening?"

Draco's voice rang softly through the tiled walls of the changing room showers. He had been there for hours now and his questions remained un answered. Why had he tried to stop Potter from falling, why did he even care? Didn't he want to hurt the Gryffindor, to kill him, and make him pay for everything? Then why had he tried to save him?

Nothing was making sense at the moment and as the warm water ran down his body he leaned his head back and sighed. An unexpected shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the face he had seen falling through the sky.

"Bloody Potter."

He couldn't get him out of him head. Why was the look in the other boys' eyes haunting him? Why couldn't this just end? Over and over the images of Harry falling through the air and the sound of the boy hitting the ground played in his mind. Shaking his head vigorously so that water splashed out and around him, he raised his hands to his face and rested his head on them. His white blond hair in clumps here and there as he rested his body against the warm tiles, sliding down towards the floor. The steam was still hovering around the area of the shower, thick and heavy, just like the conscience of the boy on the floor.

A half hour later Draco's slender hand turned the key over and the water stopped coming out of the showerhead. The pale dripping body of the seeker still on the floor as his lips moved ever so subtly, processing his thoughts. He had been hugging his knees for a while now, his head nestled into the crevice of his folded arms.

* * *

The sky outside was starting to grow dark, a shade of royal purple mixed in with navy blue as the stars started to shine through the sky. The only lights on the ground where of the castle's Great Hall, the hospital wing and the quidditch changing rooms.

The whole student body was at the Great Hall having dinner, and as the school was sitting down to eat their feast, each house was chattering excitedly over the quidditch game earlier that day and it's out come.

Ron and Hermione where sitting side by side, across from Neville, Ginny and Seamus. They where all slightly at ease, now that they knew that Harry would be ok. Eating their dinner, Ron exclaimed to the rest,

"I still think that we should have gotten a penalty throw for what Malfoy did to Harry. Honestly he nearly killed him."

Hermione turned to Ron and gave him a stern look that matched the one Professor McGonagall usually wore,

"Ron, stop exaggerating. Harry's fine now and besides we won, lets not keep talking about Malfoy."

The rest at the table looked guilty about what Hermione had just said, Seamus had gotten ready to agree with Ron, but Hermione's remark had come as a slap in the hand. They all turned back to the food in their plates and started to talk about what a great game it had been, Ron congratulating Seamus and Ginny on a job well done, and all of them looking forwards to the Gryffindor celebration party to be held after dinner.

Ron had already gone down to the kitchens and had found Dobby, the house elf. Persuading the creature into bringing up provisions to the Gryffindor common room, he had snuck a few extra dozen butterbeers away so that the others could enjoy them as well. The house elf was only too eager to help in anything to celebrate Harry's triumph in quidditch, and promised to have things set up by the time that the rest of the Gryffindor house came back up from the Great Hall.

Every one at the feast had been going on about what had happened on the pitch, and as the noise kept flowing around the area the teachers looked down at their pupils with a smile. All except Professor Snape, but then again it was rare to see him smile.

The potions master was looking over at his own house table, taking note that there was one member missing, but not really worrying about what Malfoy would be up to. Most likely the Slytherin was still too infuriated at loosing once again, to Potter. Snape didn't blame him, but it did seem a bit odd for the other boy to not show, considering the fact everyone in his house thought him like a hero for what had happened on the pitch. Shrugging this off, the Professor turned once more to his own plate and started to converse with Professor Sprout.

* * *

Draco breathed deeply as his forehead lay on his arm, his body crouched on the warm tiles of the floor. Lifting his head up slowly he leaned it on the wall and took in another breath of the steam filled air around him. His face was rosy and his skin warm with the touch that the water had left on his naked body.

After another moment had passed the Slytherin boy suddenly opened his eyes wide, revealing shimmering silver eyes. The white blond hair was more or less dry now, and there was still the odd water droplet running down along his body. Shifting and getting up with a renewed strength, he stepped out of the shower stall and grabbed one of the towels on the hanger. The deep pine green color of the cotton fabric, standing out on his pale skin as he wrapped it firmly around his waist and went over to one of the benches where his robes lay in a neat pile.

Moving swiftly he started to put his robes on, as he took off the green towel and threw it to one side. Fixing the cloth of the robes and smoothing out the odd crease he walked over to the mirror and looked at the face reflecting back. The mercury colored eyes where set stunningly in the angular face of the Slytherin boy. His hair settling in the position it normally took. His cheeks where still slightly pink and his lips where also around the same delicate color.

Pivoting on his left heel, he turned around and started to walk towards the bench. Beside the green towel he had thrown, were the two brooms. His Nimbus two thousand and one next to the Firebolt. The wood of both brooms shinning with miniscule water droplets that had condensed on the handles. Picking up the towel, Malfoy took his broom and cleaned off the water. The polished wood twinkled back at him as he set it down and then picked up the Firebolt.

Running his finger over the wood once again, he left a trace of where he had touched it, the water running off the handle as he raised the towel. Gingerly running the green fabric up and down he cleaned the liquid off it and then tossed the towel to one side. The broom glistened in the lamplight as he turned it over and over in his hands. How he envied Potter for having something so good.

"Potter…"

His thoughts snapped back into place as he said the name, remembering where the boy was and where he himself was. Picking up his own broom he held both of them together as he walked towards the door of the changing rooms and turned off the lights. Closing the door behind him he walked into the cool night air spreading over the school grounds. His fine hair shifting slightly with the breezes movement as he quickly walked across the field and up the school steps.

The feast was still going on as Draco walked past the huge wooden doors of the entrance hall. Stopping with his back turned to the door, he looked ahead of him. To his left was the Great Hall, and he wasn't going to go there, so he had two directions to choose from. To his right, lay the hallway that lead to the dungeons and his house common room. Straight ahead, lay the staircase that would take him to the hospital wing and to the injured Gryffindor.

He didn't want to have to return the valuable broom back to its owner, at least not in front of Potter's friends. Taking a deep breath he quickly moved across the doors of the Great Hall and started to head up the stairs. He was constantly looking around him as he moved down the deserted corridors, wary of any one who might be coming. Luckily he met no one on the way to the wing he was headed to. The two brooms where held in a possessive like manner against Draco's body as he got closer and closer to his destination. Stopping in front of the hospital wing door, Draco looked at the wood of the entrance as he debated with himself, finally reaching out a hand and turning the knob of the door.

It swung open silently as he stepped in, hesitant to be in the same room as Potter, but where was the boy? Looking around to his left and right, Draco saw empty bed after empty bed. The white of the linens distinct against the shadows of the dim room. There was a light up ahead coming from a separate room and Draco found that his feet where carrying him to it. The door of the room opened and Draco stood rooted to the spot.

Seeing who it was Draco started to breath once more as Madam Pomfrey came out with a bunch of bandages and a light green bottle of ointment. As the woman turned around she almost let out a startled cry to find another student standing there, almost like a ghost, the pale skin of the boy reflecting back at her, and the gray eyes sparkling in the little light that was provided. Grasping the bandages she gave Malfoy a look that said,

"Don't you ever do that again, young man."

Shaking her head she said,

"Mr. Malfoy, how may I help you?"

Before he could reply he found that the nurse was pushing the bottle of ointment at him as she grabbed another bandage and closed the door to the room. Motioning to the boy she walked over to her left and over to a slightly secluded bed. In the shadows of the corner, Draco could distinct see a chest rising and falling with each small breath the person took under the sheets.

The two figures walked closer to Harry, as he lay asleep in the hospital bed. Malfoy stopped at the end of the twin bed and leaned the two brooms against the end frame of the bed before going over to the nurses' side and looking at the boy. Madam Pomfrey was putting down the bandages on one of the nightstands next to the bed. Turning around to face the injured boy she lifted off the sheets to reveal Harry's bare chest.

At least it would have been bare, had it not been for an odd necklace that the boy was wearing. Currently it was glowing a deep almost blood shade of red, the light coming off from it was burning so intensely that it lit up the whole corner and cast a pinkish light on the rest of the beds. The nurse bent her head to one side as she said,

"Well that's odd, it wasn't doing that before."

Draco looked closer at the glowing marble like sphere around the boy's neck, before he realized how close he was to the Gryffindor. Stepping back suddenly as if he had been zapped by electricity, he felt a blush come over his cheeks. Calming himself he venture in asking the nurse,

"Is that a devise you use on patients Madam Pomfrey?"

Looking over at the Slytherin, Madame Pomfrey restrained herself from laughing as she saw how deeply the other boy was blushing. You would think he had never seen a boys bare chest before. Shaking her head she said,

"No, it's not mine. It's his, he owns that. I don't know exactly what it is, but it wasn't glowing like that when he was first brought up here."

Draco's attention slowly shifted from the globe, to the bandages at the abdomen on the boy. Looking at the white fabric bound tightly around the stomach, Draco watched as Madam Pomfrey started to gingerly unfasten the tie of the bandages and begin to take them off. Slowly and carefully the nurse rolled the bandages off as her hands moved over and under the sleeping body on the bed. Draco's eyes didn't leave the scene before him, his conscience eating away at him as he saw what he had done to the boy. The last bit of the bandages where coming up as the nurse took the fabric off. Draco expected to see blood or a cave in of the stomach, something other than the sight that met his eyes.

The crimson light of the sphere revealed that Potter's chest and abdomen where smooth and firm. No trace of anything upon the skin of the other boy, no sign that he had fallen off his broom and come crashing down to the ground from a high altitude. Sighing in relief, Draco turned to the nurse as she threw away the bandages she had taken off of Potter.

"What exactly happened to him?"

Remembering that the other boy was there as well, Madam Pomfrey grabbed a new bandage and came to stand once again next to the bed before saying,

"Well when he fell, he broke two of his ribs. Luckily he didn't puncture his lungs because it was the lower ribs that broke, other wise…. well he's fine now. He'll have a bit of bruising, and will be sore for a while, but he'll be fine. Pass me the ointment."

He had started to feel guilty again about the fall and everything that had happened out in the quidditch pitch, not that he would ever let anyone know that he felt that way, but he couldn't help but feel guilt at the moment. Handing over the bottle he watched as Madam Pomfrey unscrewed the bottle and poured out the greenish silver liquid onto her hand. Giving the bottle back to Malfoy the nurse started to rub the thick lotion like liquid in between her hands before rubbing it on the boy's abdomen. It shone for a while like a sheet of green metal on the skin of the boy before sinking in and disappearing through the pores.

Absent mindedly Draco screwed the bottle shut before placing it beside the bandages on the nightstand. Madam Pomfrey had finished rubbing the ointment onto Harry's abdomen and was starting to place clean bandages around the boy's body when she moved the Gryffindors right arm up. At that moment, the light from the necklace Harry was wearing shore off of something in the other boy's hand. A familiar fluttering of small wings told Draco what it was. Moving over to stand at the other side of the bed Draco lifted up the boy's hand and peered at the golden snitch that was still clasped tightly around his fingers. Smirking in wonder and amazement he looked at the other boy's face and shook his head.

Madam Pomfrey watched the Slytherin as she kept putting on the last bit of the bandages around the abdomen of her patient. Seeing the seeker grin at Harry she also smiled and said,

"He hasn't let it go since he fell. Not even Mr. Weasley could get him to let it go or loosen it. He's a tough boy."

Not looking away from the face of the boy on the hospital bed Draco nodded and whispered,

"I've noticed."

At that moment the light from the orb intensified so much it forced Draco to drop the other boy's hand. As he did so, the light subsided a bit and shone softly on every shinny surface. The broom handles, the ointment bottle, the snitch and Harry's green eyes…

"Mr. Potter, so good to have you come round again, I'll get you something to eat and drink. Make sure he doesn't move too much."

Draco has stepped back a bit when he realized that the Gryffindor was awake, and every anxious and almost fearful feeling came flowing back into him, more intense than before. As Madam Pomfrey gave her orders to Draco, he kept his eyes on Potter as the light slowly changed. There was a swirl of color in the sphere, the two distinct colors being the deep crimson from before and this time a sharp blue color.

The Gryffindor shifted his body up and started to fix himself on the pillows, before taking in a sharp breath in pain. Before Draco knew what he was doing he had breached the gap in between him and the boy and was forcing him back down a bit, gently and softly placing the boys head in between the pillows.

The light from the sphere shined brightly again, this time with a considerable amount more red light than blue. It almost blinded Draco as he kept a firm hold on the body of the Gryffindor, placing him softly on the bed once more. As the light slowly subsided back, there was another sharp intake of breath from the boy on the bed, as he looked up at the face of who was holding him.

* * *

Harry was drifting around in a place that was all hazy and glowed with a crimson light all around him. It was a comforting sort of place, a cloud of calm and comfort surrounded him, almost invigorating his senses as he looked around him. In front of him was a shadow, looming darkly ahead consuming the soothing light that hovered around him. What he found odd though, was that he wanted to go to the darkness looming ahead, he needed to. Why, he didn't understand, but that was what was necessary. As he got closer to the shadow the crimson light around him shone brighter as he felt a warm presence by his side. Not looking at his right side he knew that there was someone there. The scarlet light around him shone like armor around his body, as he traveled deeper and deeper into the dark abyss. The light around him was becoming real, not just something of a dream like state, it was as if he was traveling through a black tunnel surrounded by the crimson light and as he looked around him, he realized that he was awake, and that the light indeed was there, so strong it was almost tangible it had floated in front of him now and was flowing over his numb limbs.

Shifting up he felt a deep stabbing pain wash over his body starting from him stomach and flowing through his torso, the numb feeling completely gone now and suddenly leaving him vulnerable to every stabbing pain coursing through his veins. He felt like collapsing once more but found that he was being supported by someone. The hands that where holding him up slightly where now placing him down once more towards the fluffy pillows of the bed he lay on. The light shone again, it lit up everything around him and prevented him from seeing the face of the person who was placing him so gently upon the pillow. Relaxing completely Harry looked up. The light slowly started to fade a bit, just enough to allow Harry to see the person above him, the face of the person who had eased his pain at the moment. He was expecting to see Madam Pomfrey and was about to thank her, before his breath caught at his throat.

The face of Draco Malfoy looked down at him, as he lay there, helpless on the hospital bed. Harry's mind was racing, but the first thing he did was extend his hand out over his heart and grasp the necklace tightly in his left hand. The crimson light dimmed immediately as Harry's fingers covered its surface. Looking up with worry and anger at the Slytherin he took in a deep breath, but found that it hurt him tremendously. He winced as he breathed once more and attempted to shift away from the other boy and sit up to face him. The effort though, had left him faint and in more pain, he was starting to fall to one side, but was stopped by a pair of steady cool hands.

Draco had reached out and stopped Harry from falling over, placing him up right and slightly inclined on the pillows. The two boys looked at each other for a while, not saying anything to each other, both out of breath from their movements, and both without sensation from what was happening. The sphere in Harry's left hand was shinning brightly through the small gaps in the Gryffindors fingers. Harry felt another sphere in his right hand and brought it up to his eyes, attempting to get a better look at it.

Malfoy lighted a match, the snitch glowed under the faint light of a candle that had been lit at the nightstand by the Slytherin, as Harry examined the snitch. The eerie light made everything seem like a dream once more.

"You wouldn't let it go. Not even Weasley could make you loosen your grip on it."

The voice that said this was not from the boy he had known for years, at least it didn't sound like the drawl that was a hallmark of Malfoy, yet the words where coming from his lips. Shifting his head he looked over at the Slytherin and into the silver pools that where his eyes.

"Why are you here Malfoy? Come to see how good of a job you did?"

The light from Harry's hand started to change colors into a dull gray just as something in those deep silver eyes changed,

"I'm sorry for what happened ok, I didn't mean to… I brought your broom back."

The Slytherin had moved over to the end of the bed and had shifter around so that Harry's Firebolt was clearly seen by the boy. Harry's hands and body relaxed at the sight of his broom, shinning from the candlelight. He was confused however, why had Malfoy brought it back and not his teammates? How had Malfoy gotten a hold of it? Why was this boy acting so…. nice and thoughtful? Was it a trap of some kind?

Looking deeply into the eyes of the Slytherin for a good amount of time, he stared at the face of the boy trying to detect anything. Then looking at his left hand he observed the shade of color that the sphere had turned. The dominant hue was still the deep crimson that it had been when he had woken up, but now it had a marble color of gray and blue. But that couldn't be right at all. Blue stood for fear and anxiety and gray was…hurt. Maybe it was analyzing his own feelings at the moment, but it only did that with emotions, and he wasn't feeling emotionally hurt, just physically. So if that was true then that meant Malfoy was….

At that moment another noise distracted Harry, and looking down the rows of beds, he saw that Madam Pomfrey was coming his way with a tray of something. Immediately the other boy stood back and let the nurse take over the situation. Madam Pomfrey came up to the bed and set the tray on a little table that she had rolled along from the side. From the tray floated a sweet aroma of food and tea, as Madam Pomfrey shifted the tray and it's contents closer to the boy and balancing it on her patient's bed table. Harry's eyes fell on the contents of the tray as the nurse lifted the lid to reveal a bit of roasted chicken and fried rice. A roll was next to the tiny tray of butter, and the sweet smell of tea drifted towards Harry's nostrils as the aromas wafted over to him.

Harry realized that he was very hungry and not hesitating to get the approval of the nurse, he placed the snitch in his other hand along with the sphere, and reached over to grab the knife with his right hand, starting to cut away at the chicken. Bringing the food up to his mouth he ate in silence as the nurse looked on, the other boy behind her still looking intently at Potter. Shifting around Madam Pomfrey faced Malfoy and asked him in a low voice,

"Did he move around too much?"

Eyeing the boy on the bed, Draco shook his head at the nurse and said,

"A bit, but I tried to stop him from making too much movement."

Turning over to her patient, the nurse narrowed her eyes as she looked at the boy who was now taking a bite out of the buttered bread. Shaking her head slightly she said,

"Mr. Potter you always where a willful one. I'll be back, I need to get a potion for you so that you can fall asleep, Mr. Malfoy will keep you company and warn me if you move too much."

Before Harry could swallow his food and call out in protest, the nurse had turned around and was heading out of the ward, leaving the two boys alone once more. Potter took a drink of the tea and washed down the food before he realized that Malfoy was staring at his hand that held the snitch.

Placing the cup down Harry turned to face the other boy as he looked at the place the Slytherin was gazing at. The snitch had stopped struggling in his hand and had folded its wings in, lying calmly against the sphere of the allemotion globe.

Looking up to face Malfoy, Harry made eye contact with the other boy and caught the silver eyes of his enemy. Narrowing his eyes once more, Harry looked again at the sphere and watched the swirl of colors inside the globe. There was still some blue swirling in the deep crimson, but most of the gray had disappeared, being replaced by pale blue. Harry knew the pale blue to be nervousness, he had sensed it around those that had tried out for the quidditch team, but Malfoy. Why was he feeling this, Harry sure wasn't, but why would the Slytherin be sensing this emotion at all. Harry started to relax a bit, against his own will but he on the other hand did start to accept the fact the Malfoy just might be able to feel these types of emotions like any other person. Of course it didn't make sense at the moment, after all he was a Slytherin, the son of a death eater, and the most cold, self conceded brat one would ever have the un pleasant opportunity to run across, but Harry guessed that he was after all human, a bad specimen but a human none the less.

Looking up he saw that Malfoy was running a finger down Harry's broom, and a soft tint of pink spread across his cheeks as he realized the injured boy was looking at him. Moving away from the brooms at the end of the bed, Malfoy came to sit down on one of the chairs that had been near the bed. Looking down at Potter's left hand, Draco was itching to ask what the small sphere was and why the Gryffindor constantly kept looking at it and then at him. It was as if he was a case that the other boy was analyzing and trying to label, Draco hated that, all his life he had been labeled, by family, and friends alike, he didn't need Potter to do that. Finally Draco couldn't stand it any more and taking a calming breath, he looked at Potter as he said,

"What is that thing, in your hand?"

Vaguely startled by Malfoy's question Harry took another drink of tea before he said in a short and mocking like tone,

"A golden snitch."

Malfoy looked back at the boy and caught himself before he smiled, how Potter was quick. He kept his face as blank as possible from the amusement that he felt towards the other boy's response,

"You know what I meant Potter. It's fine if you don't want to tell me, I know you don't trust me."

Slightly taken aback at the calm manner in which the Slytherin responded, Harry thought a bit before he asked,

"And you trust me?"

Wondering how the other boy would react to his question he looked deeply into the eyes of the other boy. He knew, from years of experience, that the face wouldn't give anything away, but the eyes where a different story. A sparkle went off in the eyes of the other boy, deep in pools of mercury colored liquid of the pupils. At that moment Harry felt the glow of the sphere intensify as Malfoy looked back at him. Daring to look down Harry saw the crimson color of the globe start to take over but still mingling around the dark and pale blues. Not looking away from Malfoy, Harry raised his eyebrows and asked in a whisper,

"Why are you being nice to me Malfoy? Why are you really here, what do you want? If this is a trap or a trick of some kind it's not funny."

The words that floated his was from the Gryffindor stung Malfoy, as if he had been slapped, Potter thought this was a game, but then Potter realizes there is something else going on, how do I make him understand that I don't know? Getting up Malfoy smothered his silky hair back and started to pace as he said to Potter,

"I'm not playing a game, I'm not trying to be nice to you either … bloody hell I hate you Potter. I don't know what's going on, I don't know why I brought your broom up to you, I don't know why I took the time to come to you now, I don't know why I tried to stop you from falling in quidditch, I don't know what's going on, I…"

Harry's voice cut him off as the Gryffindor was left in shock,

"Hang on…I thought you just said that you tried to stop me from falling off my broom."

Harry was even more stunned when he realized that the other boy had stopped in his tracks, his profile revealing to Harry that indeed, he had said that. Malfoy didn't say anything and was left looking down at the floor as Harry shifted uneasily in the pillows, things just kept getting more bewildering by the minute. Both of them had been left speechless for a while as they looked awkwardly around them, finally the silence was broken by Malfoy's voice as he said in a mildly brusque voice,

"Listen Potter, I just came to bring your broom up, that's all. I better leave now, seeing as how things could get difficult from now on."

Looking over at the white blond hair Harry said in a confused manner,

"What do you mean? We haven't been at each others necks for a good couple of minutes, and if I remember correctly you've always been the difficult one."

Turning around so that his eyes focused completely on the injured boy, Draco said to him in his drawl like manner once more,

"Then I guess you have a poor memory…but then again that's always been obvious, especially in potions class."

Harry knew this Malfoy, and he knew how to handle him, but still it was a shift from the Malfoy he had been talking to before, almost as if the Malfoy who had held him up from falling over in the bed, was protecting and shielding himself with this Malfoy. Starring him in the eye he thought he saw the other boy shift slightly uncomfortably under the Gryffindors gaze. Before realizing what he was doing Harry found his lips forming the question,

"Who are you?"

Dazed by the question, Draco broke the eye contact, turned and walked over to the end of the bed where the brooms lay. Picking up the Nimbus two thousand and one, he turned his back to Potter just as Madam Pomfrey opened the door and came up the rows of beds with a silver smoking goblet in her hands.

Nodding to Madam Pomfrey he didn't turn to face Potter as he walked off down the rows of beds in the ward, not answering the other boy's question and not looking back as he came upon the door and swung it open.

Stepping out into the hallway Draco closed the hospital door behind him and rested his back to it for a minute or two, before he started to make his way down to the dungeons of his house, the question the other boy had asked, ringing in his mind. Knitting his eyebrows he whispered to himself,

"What ever this is…it must stop."

* * *

**_Thanks:_** Thanks to all of those who have posted reviews and thank you all for your support and constructive criticism. Little things like that are appreciated by me, so I would be grateful for any thing else that you have in mind as you read these chapters. For those of you who have made it this far, bunches of thanks from me to you. Also thank you for all my buddies at HC, you're the ones that got me started in all this really. I truly am astounded at how many have read and replied to my fanfic and I am surprised at how many positive things I have gotten out of it from everyone. Once again I extend my gratitude to all of you, and I do hope that you enjoy the rest of the fanfic, I promise you it starts to pick up speed in events and the chapters are going to get longer, I'll be uploading and posting the next chapter to my story as soon as possible;) 


	4. The beginning of something

_**Author: Lenuvira Dostar**_

_**R-English-Romance/Adventure **_

_**Summary of events:**_ Ok, so last chapter Harry is in the hospital wing, he had broken two ribs from the fall. Draco brings Harry's broom and watches Madam Pomfrey put ointment on Harry to help him heal and they both see that Harry is wearing the allemotion. They don't know what it is, but now they both know about it and the fact that it glows different colors. After a while Harry wakes up and Draco starts talking to him while Madam Pomfrey goes to get a potion, after wards Draco leaves. Well that's it in a nutshell, enjoy this next chapter.

* * *

_**Chapter four-The beginning of something

* * *

**_

_I can feel the magic floating in the air,_

_being with you gets me that way._

_I watch the sun light dance across your face_

_and I've never been this swept away…_

_All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze,_

_as I'm lying wrapped up in your arms. _

_The whole world just fades away,_

_the only thing I hear is the beating of your heart._

_-Just breathe, Faith Hill

* * *

_

Harry woke up on the Saturday morning, the hospital wing completely quiet except for the birds outside the window that had woken him up. Shifting up slowly he noticed that his abdomen didn't hurt as much as it had last night…last night.

Looking down at his chest he picked up the small orb of the allemotion, and turned it over in his hand as he remembered what had happened, just a few hours before. Why had Malfoy acted the way he had last night? Why had he himself acted in the way that he had? As he processed his thought of the Slytherin and his own interaction with him, he noticed the orb start to come to life as well. A deep crimson color starting to spring up in the depths of the crystal sphere.

Letting it drop once more onto his bare chest, Harry sat up completely and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He was only dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms that looked like the ones used in muggle hospitals, then again he was in the hospital wing. Finding his glasses on the nightstand where he had left them before he went to sleep, he put them on and got off the bed. Then lifted his arms up and started to stretch gingerly in different directions, testing his abdomen and seeing if it would be ok. After Malfoy had left Madam Pomfrey had told him that he had broken two ribs and had forced him to drink the healing and sleeping potion she had brought up for him.

He was expecting to feel a nasty tug on his stomach any time now, expecting pain to shoot out from his injured area, instead he felt more at ease and nimble as he stretched his muscles.

Looking around after he had done that for a couple of minutes, he spotted his black school robes on a chair next to the bed, the same chair Malfoy had sat on the night before. There he went again, the Slytherin just kept popping into his mind, what was going on?

Shaking his head, Harry started to put his robes on and tie the laces on his shoes, before getting up once more and walking down the rows of beds. Madam Pomfrey had given him permission to leave as soon as he woke up in the morning, that way he could have breakfast with his house in the Great Hall.

Pushing the door wide open he stepped into the corridors and started to make his way swiftly down the staircases to the first floor. He passed one or two groups of students, each stopping and congratulating the Gryffindor on a job well done yesterday in the match. Harry felt a blush come along each time that he was stopped by the students, but had grown used to it after years of the same treatment.

As he was walking away from the last group of Ravenclaws that had stopped to talk to him, he felt something in his pocket move. The black fabric of the robes started to shift more and more before Harry stopped in the middle of the hall and opened the pocket.

Out burst the golden snitch, glinting in the light of the morning sun that had been leaking in through the windows. Harry stopped and looked at the fluttering ball before he jumped up with his out stretched hands and caught it in mid leap. His hands holding onto the fluttering object as his feet hit the floor once more.

"Harry's back, nice catch mate!"

Turning around, Harry saw Ron and Hermione start to come his way from the direction of the hospital wing. Hermione was holding a big book, as usual, and Ron was holding his Firebolt. Smiling at his friends he said,

"Thanks…oh…and thanks for bringing my broom, I guess I left it in the hospital wing."

Hermione shook her head at Harry with a grin on her face as she said,

"We went there early to see if you would be coming to eat breakfast with us, but when we got there Madam Pomfrey said you had already left. It was Ron who saw your broom and brought it."

Harry took the Firebolt from his friend's hands as Ron offered it to him. Smiling at the two again Harry nodded his head down the stairs, motioning for them to go down to the Great Hall. The three of them started to descend the stairs together, Ron and Hermione talking about the celebration party Gryffindor house had had the night before.

Apparently, Seamus had put a bit of firewhiskey in the butterbeers that Ron had brought up from the kitchens. The house had gotten a little too rowdy and Hermione was forced to put a silencing charm on a couple of people, surprisingly, one of them being Neville. It seemed that Neville had had one too many of the spiked butterbeers and had gone off saying a couple things about Professor Snape, after Parvati had said she still had an essay to write for the teacher. Ron then said in an amused voice,

"Honestly, the language that he was using was...well I've never heard Neville talk like that."

Hermione though was giving Ron a stern look that could have rivaled Mrs. Weasley's, before she shook her head saying,

"Ron, we shouldn't talk like that about anyone, especially a friend."

The boy's ears went red as Hermione talked to him in that stern voice that fit the Head Girl so well. As the three of them kept walking down the stairs they started to talk about something else, Ron later whispering to Harry that he would tell him the details of the party later.

As the three Gryffindors reached the bottom of the stairs that where next to the Great Hall, Harry suddenly felt the allemotion sphere start to glow vibrantly under his robes. Turning to see why, he saw the reason walking up to the door of the Great Hall up ahead. Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins where strutting up from the dungeons and had stopped, just as their Head Boy turned to see the Gryffindors opposite them. The Slytherins shifting to stand behind their leader and Hermione stepping forward in front of Harry and Ron. Placing her hands on her hips there was a twinkle as her Head Girl badge caught the suns rays.

"Malfoy, lets not start anything today. Leave us alone, we don't want any trouble."

Behind her, Hermione could hear Ron whisper to Harry in a disgusted manner,

"She should speak for her self. I'd like to teach him a lesson for what he did."

Harry turned to his friend in a puzzled sort of way; his brows knitted as he absent mindedly reached up to his chest with his left hand and placed it over his heart, right on top of the glowing sphere. Turning back to face the Slytherins Harry asked Ron,

"What did he do?"

Ron stepped back suddenly in a startled manner, his mouth wide open in shock as he yelled out,

"Harry! He pushed you off your broom, broke two of your ribs and has been a git ever since we met him and you ask me what he did!"

Everyone's attention was now back on the two boys behind Hermione, some of the Slytherins snickering, and others like Crabbe and Goyle, cracking their knuckles and scowling at them. Harry himself was startled by his friend's outburst, shaking his head he looked at Ron, completely ignoring the other people around him.

"I know he did that Ron. What I meant to ask was if he had done anything else?"

"What else do you want him to do mate, tie you up in devils snare and push you off the astronomy tower?"

Ron wasn't paying attention to Hermione, as she started to shake her head in a startled fashion, while the Slytherins stood up straight and placed a grin upon their faces. Harry himself was looking at the reason why they had suddenly started to act this way, but Ron kept on yelling out at him, oblivious to the fact that Professor Snape was walking up to Ron's turned back.

"Ron, shut up."

Harry whispered insistently at Ron, but his friend was still ranting out and saying,

"Don't tell me to shut up, this insufferable son of a bludger has done enough to us all, what more do you want him to do. He hasn't done anything yet today but we shouldn't give him time to cook up a nasty plan to throw at us again. His and the rest of that filthy Slytherin lot headed by that bloody damn git, Sna…"

Harry held his breath as Professor Snape came to stand right behind Ron and clear his throat loudly behind him. Ron froze in mid sentence as his face turned ashen white. His face started to scrunch up as he prepared himself for the blow he would probably receive in about five seconds. The only thing that followed that, was a snicker or two from the Slytherin group behind Harry as he faced Professor Snape, who was scowling at the three Gryffindors in a triumphant manner. Speaking to them all in a slow and cruel tone that flowed around them like poison,

"Mr. Weasley… I dare say your parents wouldn't approve of what you have just said. _Howling_ in that manner out in the hall, you always had a big mouth, but I never realized how big of a temper you had. You better watch out Mr. Potter, it seems you have some competition in that aspect."

Both boys had turned to face the Professor, Ron with his head bowed and still wincing from when Professor Snape had emphasized the word "Howling". No doubt he was remembering their second year when Mrs. Weasley had sent him the howler after crashing the Ford Anglia on the Whomping Willow. Harry was starring at Snape as the Professor mentioned his temper and felt the glow of the allemotion change slightly under his robes.

"I believe that will be 30 points from Gryffindor for being rude to another house member. Oh and of course another 30 points for the act of insulting a Professor, maybe that will teach you a lesson. Be glad I'm in a good mood too, other wise you would have gotten a detention."

Stepping aside and walking towards the Slytherins, Professor Snape made his was towards Malfoy, nodded his head, and changed direction to go into the Great Hall, being followed by the amused lot.

Harry was left outside the door alone with Hermione who was looking at the 60 rubies in the hourglass drifting back up to the top and subtracting points from their house. Ron was still red in the face and muttering to him self, all Harry could make out was the odd words of,

"…bloody hell…sixty points…all my saves…temper indeed…good mood my…"

Harry didn't realize he had been squeezing the snitch tightly to the wood of his broom in his fury as he had faced the potions teacher. Relaxing his grip once more he put the snitch back in his inside pocket, this time buttoning it up so the ball couldn't get out. Turning back to his friends he shook his head at the two and started to go into the Great Hall.

Hermione wasn't talking to Ron as he followed behind Harry, still muttering under his breath. Making their way towards the reasonably empty house table, they sat down, Harry on one side and Ron and Hermione on the other. Ron was apparently still in a bad mood seeing as how he wasn't really eating, Harry was very hungry though and started to load up his plate with toast, eggs, waffles and sausages. Hermione was starting to pour herself, Ron and Harry some orange juice before looking at Ron as he rolled a sausage across his plate.

A couple of minutes passed and she had started to read her book by now and taking bites off of the toast in her plate, when she looked over at the boy next to her, slammed her book down and picked up one of the plates that held the eggs. Scooping up some she plopped them on to Ron's plate, doing the same with the sausages, ham and potatoes.

Ron had been surprised at the sudden movement from Hermione as she did this, looking over at Harry with a puzzled look set in his face. Harry just smiled and shrugged before he took another bite off his waffle.

Once Hermione was done with this she picked up Ron's fork and placed it onto his hands before she said harshly,

"Eat!"

Ron just looked from the fork in his hand, to the filled plate, and them at Hermione, startled and bewildered before she sighed and said a little more gently,

"Please…come on Ron, it will be fine, if Snape contacts your mum, I'll send her a letter explaining everything, alright."

It seemed like Hermione, as always, had indeed guessed correctly that that was what was passing through Ron's mind. The other boy relaxed considerably and leaned over to give the Head Girl a hug and a small peck on the cheek, before turning to the food piled up on his plate and starting to eat.

Harry simply shook his head in a stunned manner and turned back to his own plate of food, just as he saw Hermione lift up the book once more to cover up the slight blush that had spread over her cheeks. Ron rarely showed emotions towards Hermione in any way, and to see him kiss her on the cheek, well it was surprising indeed. They did act like an old married couple and all, bickering over insignificant things, and they did seem to balance each other out, but that still didn't change the fact that they rarely showed their emotions to each other, let alone in public.

Harry was about to reach over for the potatoes when a familiar swoosh of wings and hooting announced the arrival of the mail that morning. Looking up to the ceiling he saw all the huge barn, great horned, tawny and his own snowy owl come down and glide over to their owners. Hedwig came fluttering down to the table and landed softly on Harry's right shoulder. She brought no messages or notes that morning, but Harry was used to it now, the owl usually just came down to visit her owner now and then, and get a bit of something to eat.

Harry smiled at the snowy owl as she rubbed her soft feathery head on his cheek affectionately. Harry reached down and picked up a piece of sausage and fed it to the bird just as another flutter of feathers came to stop right in front of him.

Their where many people who owner eagle owls in the school, but none of those owls where as well trained as the one in front of Harry at that moment, there was no mistaking the fact that this was Malfoy's owl.

The owl folded it's wings gracefully and held out it's left leg to Harry, balancing perfectly on it's right leg as it waited for Harry to take the note that was tied to it. Ron and Hermione had stopped eating and reading when the owl had landed at their table, and where watching Harry and the owl with interest as he took the note. Once the owls leg was free it started to spread it's wings once more and beat them as he took off. Hermione watching it through narrowed eyes as she said to them,

"That was Malfoy's owl, what does he want to send you Harry?"

Ron was looking at the note as if it was probably going to chew Harry's hand off if he opened it. Harry though wasn't looking at his friend and only shrugged at Hermione as he opened the note that read,

Potter 

_I'm challenging you to a wizards duel. No seconds, we duel to the end. Send reply as soon as you can, if you agree we'll meet at Hogsmead tomorrow, if you don't, you don't deserve to be in Gryffindor. _

_Malfoy_

_P.S. Just you and me, no Weasley or Granger, no Crabbe or Goyle. _

Harry read through it twice before he found that Ron had take the note away from him and was reading it with Hermione leaning over his shoulder and doing the same. After a moment she had placed her hand over her mouth in shock as Ron took a sharp intake of breath. He dropped the note and they both started to whisper intently and furiously at Harry, Hermione speaking first and then Ron as they said,

"Harry, you can't…"

"It's a trap mate…"

"You can't trust him…"

"He's a Slytherin…"

"You'll get caught…"

"Then again it would be nice if you finished him off."

"RON!"

Hermione was beside herself as Ron said this, turning away from the red haired boy next to her she continued talking to Harry in a matter of fact like tone,

"Harry, this is dangerous, what if it is a trap. I mean it's at Hogsmead, anything could happen, remember our first year, remember what happened. He could turn you in again and say he just heard you talking about that and…Harry you just can't."

Ron was reading through the note once more, running his fingers through his hair as he said,

"Well either way Harry, you're going to have to tell the slimy rodent what you choose."

Harry was appreciative that his friends where so concerned for him, but thought that they really should let him decide the matter, but what would he do about it. The scene of last night in the hospital wing popped into Harry's head, followed by the quidditch match, the tryouts and finally on the meeting in the Hogwarts Express. A glazed like look had come over his eyes as he remembered what he had felt in all those encounters. Looking up at Ron and Hermione he ran his own fingers through his unruly hair, Hedwig shifting on his shoulder. Harry reached over to Ron and took the note back again, reading it over once more. Looking up from it again he shook his head and pivoted in his seat, looking across the room to the Slytherin table.

There was the white blond hair of the boy, facing him and stroking the eagle owls feathers as he fed it a piece of ham. Harry stared at him for a while, willing him to look up and across at him, hoping that the Slytherin would notice him at that moment. Hedwig was shifting on his shoulder just as Malfoy lifted his head and stared across at the Gryffindor with his friends.

The silver eyes of the Head Boy locked in with Harry's jade green as they looked at each other for a moment, the sphere on Harry's chest burning fiercely. Harry then lifted the note and waved it at the Slytherin indicating that he had received it. The other boy just nodded and lifted a delicate eyebrow as if asking,

"And?"

Harry then looked back at the letter, turned to his friends and then back at the Slytherin across the room, hesitating a bit and then remembering something the other boy had said last night in the hospital wing,

"I'm not playing a game…"

But was he, was he just playing a vicious merciless game with him, had he started to last night? The orb burned once more underneath his robes, remembering the allemotion he wore, Harry turned his back to the Slytherin and lifted his robes out from the neck of the fabric just enough so he could see what color it was at the moment. His eyes where flooded once more with the deep crimson light, the same hue it had been the night before. Thinking of the other night and what had happened and had been said, only cemented Harry's decision more.

Finally turning back to face the Slytherin, his lip turned up at the corner in a half smile as he gave a sharp nod to the other boy. Immediately the results of his decision started to unfold. The Slytherin boy nodded back with a grin, at the same time that Ron and Hermione, who had been watching him intently started to talk at the same time,

"You'll kill him mate…"

"Harry no, I can't believe your doing this…"

"Crush him Harry, get him back…"

"I'm not letting you do this…"

"Stop it Herm, he's made his decision."

"Ron, he could get killed…"

"He's against Malfoy…"

The two of them went on like that for a while, neither really listening to the other as Harry shook his head and fed Hedwig a bit of sausage before she spread her wings and left.

No one in the hall noticed anything else going on early that morning at the house tables. No one was really paying attention to the two boys opposite each other, the Gryffindor and Slytherin having agreed to meet and duel alone tomorrow, was a fact only known by the two participants and the two best friends of one participant, who where currently off in their own world.

Harry was starting to think that the fight in between Ron and Hermione was going to take forever, when just as Hedwig disappeared through the rafters, a great big horned owl swooped in to the Great Hall carrying a rather big scroll. The chattering of the two people across from Harry stopped when the owl flew smoothly towards Hermione and stopped right in front of her holding out the big roll of parchment. The seal on the wax sported a fancy letter 'K'.

Harry was holding his breath now, he could see another argument coming up in between the two as Hermione untied the scroll from the owl with a blush just as Ron asked in an insulted voice,

"Is that from Krum!"

Harry started to slowly get up and walk away, picking up his Firebolt just as he heard Hermione mutter something about having kept contact with Victor the whole entire summer.

Across from the Gryffindor table, Malfoy caught Harry's eye just as he was getting up himself, he was saying something to his housemates just as Harry stepped out of the Hall and headed up to the stairs. Running footsteps where heard as Malfoy burst through the open doors of the hall and came to stand at the bottom of the stairs,

"Potter…"

Harry stopped in his tracks, leaning himself on his broom as he turned around to face the boy that had called his name. The sunlight was reflecting off his face and white blond hair, making him look almost angelic as his robes fluttered around him while he climbed the stair to stand in front of Harry. Harry hadn't realized his breath was coming short or that Malfoy was trying to avoid his eyes until they where face to face, an arms length apart. They stood there looking at each other for a split second, the air around them as charged with energy as ever,

"It would be better if we meet at night."

It wasn't really a question as more of a statement that came out of the Slytherins lips. Harry just nodded and looked at him in a quizzical look that matched Hermione's when she was studying. After a couple uncomfortable moments he asked,

"Where in Hogsmead, at what time?"

The boy across from him shrugged and turned his back to him, starting to walk down the stairs, his voice flowing back to Harry's ears as he said,

"I'm free when ever, you decide the rest, send me an owl."

Harry just shook his head at the manner that Malfoy had said this, as if he where talking to a servant and he was giving that servant a great honor. Shaking his head he started to turn around and head back up the stairs towards the common room.

He was still running his hand inattentively across his chest right where the sphere was, when he came upon the portrait of the Fat Lady,

"Password"

She said in a bored manner,

"Firewhiskey"

Ron had told him that they had changed the password after the whole incident with Neville and the party last night. The Fat Lady rolled her eyes and whispered loud enough for Harry to hear,

"I could use some…"

As the portrait swung open, Harry stepped through the hole and into the common room, which thanks to the house elves, bared no sign that a party had been held the night before, except for the odd person sleeping on the couches, like Neville, Ginny and Collin.

Making his way up to his dorm room Harry started to change into some of his muggle clothes. With the help of Hermione they had shrunk Dudley's old hand-me-downs to fit Harry just right, and in some cases changed the color of the fabric.

"It's a simple spell really, I'm surprised at how few people know it."

She had said as she had changed an ugly mustard color sweater into a soft red color that complimented Harry's vivid green eyes. Harry had changed out of the black robes and was starting to put on a pair of worn out jeans, zipping them up he thought Hermione might have over done it a bit with the shrinking. The pants where not uncomfortable, but they did seem a bit tight. Rummaging around in his trunk he took out a white T-shirt, that had once been a brownish green and pulled it over his head, this was the perfect fit, not to loose around his body, but not to tight either.

As he bent down once more to close the lid of the trunk he felt his abdomen twinge a bit in protest of the bending movement. Straightening up slowly he walked over to the bed and picked up his school robes, throwing them over the clothes he had just put on, just for a bit more warmth, yet not bothering to button it up.

At that moment he felt his pocket quiver once more, he had forgotten all about the snitch, and going to kneel down by the trunk once more he took out a small box. It was just big enough for the snitch to fit into it. Taking the lid off he unbuttoned the pocket of his robes carefully and reached in. He felt the fluttering object inside and secured his hand on it with a firm grip, taking his hand out he saw the snitch once more trying to get away from his grasp.

Stuffing the struggling ball into the small box, Harry quickly put the lid back on and closed it. There was a bit of red string like ribbon that he had in his trunk, taking it out he started to tie it around the box so it would remain closed. That finished, he started to put the box back into the trunk along with his Firebolt that he had left at the base of his bed.

Starting to get up once again, he saw the Marauders map to one side of the trunk, and was reminded of Malfoy and what they had planned for tomorrow. How would they get to Hogsmead, where would they meet once they got there? Harry had a couple options open for him, but how would that work out for Malfoy. They could go together so that the chance of the Slytherin double crossing him would be less, yes that would be best. The question still remained as to how they would get to Hogsmead? Once again Harry had a few ideas popping into his head, they could go through the Whomping Willow, and they could duel at the Shrieking Shack, or maybe they could go through the passage that went from the one eyed witch and then duel somewhere else, but where? Harry still thought the Shrieking Shack would be the best place for the duel, but should they risk going through the Whomping Willow or going through the Honeyduckes passage.

Harry was still feeling sore and if they tried to go through the passage under the Whomping Willow and failed to get past it, he would be in a lot of trouble, physically. That settled it then, they would go together by the passage of the one eyed witch, go to the Shrieking Shack and duel there. The thing was, could Harry trust Malfoy to keep that passage a secret or not. As that thought crossed his head he remembered the conversation they had had the night before,

"…I know you don't trust me."

"And you trust me?"

The sincerity of that moment he had been shown with Malfoy, the way the boy's eyes had sparkled when Harry had asked that. It was as if, yes he did trust him, and that was the reason why he was having Harry choose the final details of this duel. I guess I could try and trust him, he thought.

Harry stood in the middle of the room, he had been pacing as he had thought this all out, and now the only question left was to decide on the time that they would both meet at the one eyed witch.

He lifted up his left hand to take a look at his watch, but had forgotten he wasn't wearing one, it was still broken, after the second task in the Tri Wizard Tournament and all, and he hadn't gotten a new one. Looking over at Dean's bedside he saw his dorm mates watch on the nightstand and read that it was now about ten in the morning.

"What time does it start getting dark at?"

He asked himself, as once again he started to pace that floor of the dorm. The sun now a days started to go down at around seven, they all had to be in bed by ten the latest, even if you where a Head Boy or Girl. He really didn't know what time he should have them meet at the one eyed witch. Perhaps he should make it to be around midnight, that way Filch would be tired and there wouldn't be many people around him. He could also take the Marauders map along, but could he trust Malfoy if he used the Marauders map?

Questions kept popping up in Harry's head and for a second he wished he could borrow Dumbledore's pensive. Looking around Harry tried to find some parchment, finally bending down to find his book bag under his bed and pulling out a piece of parchment along with an ink bottle and a quill. Taking this out he crossed his legs on his bed as he sat comfortably on it. Everything in the room was silent, except for Harry's quill scratching against the parchment as he wrote Malfoy a note with the time and palace of the meeting.

Harry had to admit, it was a short note and quite vague, but he didn't really want to tell Malfoy where they where going to duel, he didn't think the Slytherin would like it very much.

Putting the ink bottle and quill away he started to roll up the note and tie it with another bit of the red string he pulled out from the trunk. Closing the trunk lid, he got up and started to walk across the room and towards the door. Closing it firmly behind him he started to head down to the common room, voices floated up to meet his ears from down below. No doubt Neville, Ginny and Collin where up by now.

Walking completely into the light of the common room he saw that indeed Neville and Ginny where up, but not Collin, the poor boy looked as if he would still be sleeping for a good while.

Ginny and Neville had been sitting together and talking when Harry had come in. Ginny looking up and seeing him, starting to blush a little more than she usually did. She shifted around as to get up, but thought better of it and smiled at Harry as she said,

"Hello Harry, how's the injury?"

Neville turned around startled, and seeing Harry looking at the two of them, he too started to blush a bit. He looked down and away from Harry, perhaps he thought that the news of him and the whole incident with the firewhiskey had spread to reach the Quidditch captains ears. Smiling kindly at Neville Harry said,

"I'm fine Ginny, never felt better. How are you two?"

Neville looked up to face his dorm mate and said in a gruff like tone,

"Fine, why wouldn't we be? I'm fine, and so is Ginny, and Collin…well he's asleep, but he's fine."

Harry just shook his head and started to walk off towards the door waving good-bye before he was stopped by Ginny who said,

"Wait…Harry…do you know the password? We where asleep when Ron changed it and…didn't pay attention when he told the whole house."

Harry smirked at her and nodding, turned to face Neville as he said,

"Firewhiskey"

Neville's face started to go red once more just as Harry turned around and walked out of the portrait hole. The opening closed behind him as he started to walk in the direction of the owlery. The passages where starting to get a bit more filled up, as the rest of the castle woke up and started to head downstairs or outside to the enjoy the bright morning sun before the bitter fall winds started to settle in.

Harry climbed the rest of the steps up towards the owlery, his fingers playing with the red string that was tied around the note. As he opened the latch to enter through the ceiling of the owlery tower he stepped into the midst of all the owls around him, some nestled in their nests starting to doze off, others coming in through the window with mice in their beaks.

Hedwig was at the other end of the window starting to drift off into sleep when she gave an excited hoot as she saw Harry approach her with the note. She got up from the nest immediately and started to balance her self on her right leg as she spread her wings in a stretch. Harry tied the note to the owl's leg before caressing her in the head as he said,

"Take that to Malfoy Hedwig. I'm counting on you."

The owl nipped at his fingers in a caring manner before she flapped her wings and began to soar out the window. Following his owl with his gaze he went over to stand at the ledge of the opening she had flown out of and looked down at the grounds. Two people where walking down to the lake, one with bushy brown hair, and the other with flaming red hair. Ron and Hermione where headed off to the edge of the lake towards one of the trees that stood at the opposite end of the castle. The Head Girl was still holding the roll of parchment that had arrived for her at breakfast, but she didn't seem to be yelling at Ron, nor him at her. That was a good sign Harry thought, at least he could live with them for a while longer. Smiling at them he started to make his way back down the owlery stairs and out to meet his friends at the lake.

* * *

"I'm sorry I yelled at you Herm. I just don't know what you see in Krum that you don't…never mind."

Ron had looked away from her in a hurt manner as he had said this, Hermione in turn had started to look down at the roll of parchment she was still holding in her hands. Turning it over and over again, Victor had invited her over for Christmas and had asked her if she wanted to be his girlfriend, she really liked him, but as a friend really, just like she liked Ron or Harry. Yet looking back at Ron she saw his hurt face and observed the way he walked beside her, and what had that been all about at breakfast, she had forced him to eat and then he had hugged her, he never hugged her, unless you counted the times he was trying to force her to do something, like flying.

Her cheeks felt hot and she guessed correctly that she was blushing once more, just as she had when Ron had pecked her on the cheek. She didn't feel that way with Harry, who was a close friend almost like a brother, let alone Victor, he was just a friend to her, nothing more and nothing less.

Ron on the other hand, well she didn't know what to think of him, she enjoyed his company, even though sometimes he was down right annoying, but she was too, as Ron had so kindly pointed out. At that instant she saw Ron raise his head towards her as she tried in vain to control her blushing. He looked at her with eyes that where more in amazement than anything else, he stopped in his tracks as she kept walking.

Realizing that he had fallen behind, Hermione turned back and looked at the boy in front of her. He was still looking at her in that manner, his mouth slightly open as if in shock. Finally blinking and leaning himself on a tree facing the castle. He kicked a rock into the lake as he turned gloomily and said to her,

"Do you like him? I mean do you…"

"Ron…"

She cut him off sharply and started to continue, more hesitantly this time,

"…he asked me to be his girlfriend."

She bent her head down and stared at the roll of parchment in her hands, her feelings and emotions starting to over flow, she couldn't look at the boy she had hurt, she couldn't lay eyes on Ron anymore because if she did she was afraid…

The boy started to slide down the trunk of the tree at her words. A couple minutes passed in silence before his voice drifted over to her as he asked in a jerky whisper,

"What are you going to do?"

Hermione turned to him just as he lifted his head up and saw his shimmering eyes pleading at her, yet not pushing her into making a decision. She looked back at the roll of parchment in her hands and then back at Ron, she was shaking slightly now as she closed her eyes and grasped the roll in her hands, tightening her grip on it. Opening her eyes once more she saw Ron look away from her and back out towards the surface of the glassy lake.

Walking swiftly to the edge of the water Hermione lifted her hand up and with a great heave, she threw the roll across the water as it landed with a splash. She felt a breeze flutter around her making her hair move back and away from her face as she turned around to see Ron, looking up at her with a confused look. She started to walk towards him, and knelt down before him, a tear starting to roll down her rosy cheek,

"Herm…"

"I'm sorry Ron! I didn't want to hurt you. I guess the truth is, I've liked you for a while now, not just as a friend, but…when I'm with you it's different that when I'm with Harry or Victor, yes we fight but it's those fights that bring us together. Remember this summer when I told you I didn't want to fly and you taught me anyways, I was mad but happy that you had forced me to get on the broom with you. Fourth year when Krum took me to the Yule Ball, I was hurt you didn't ask me first and was shocked when you had glared at him the whole night. When Sirius took you down the Whomping Willow and attacked you to get at Peter, I was worried out of my mind and was scared that something had happened to you. First year when you had insulted me, I was really hurt and then you came to rescue me from the troll, you didn't even care if you got hurt in the process. Second year when you and Harry kept coming to visit me at my bed, even though I was petrified and couldn't do anything. And last year when we where in the department of mysteries and we fought together side by side. Ron…I feel different when I'm around you, I feel like I can be myself, I feel stronger, as if I where special and… I'm just sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, I'm sorry I hurt you, I never wanted to do that to you, Ron I…"

She stopped talking as Ron's warm arms wrapped around her shivering body and brought her closer to him, their eyes close to each others, as their lips touched the others. A slight pressure was felt as Ron leaned in towards Hermione and she wrapped her own arms around the boy's shoulders. The wind making their robes flutter slightly as the tender kiss deepened, Hermione's lips starting to feel warm with the friction of Ron's lips on hers. A rush of emotion was filling the two, as they held each other close and let it lead them into the sweet action that was the kiss.

Slowly breaking apart they both looked at each other for a moment before Hermione hugged Ron and he held her close to him, feeling as though that instant in time would never be forgotten, and that it was just the beginning of something bigger and better to come.

Somewhere behind the trees, Harry had been listening and watching the whole thing, as his friends talked and finally kissed. Harry's smile flashing at his friends, who didn't have a clue they where being watched. Starting to slowly walk away, in order to give his friends more privacy, he felt the glow of the allemotion burn under the white T-shirt, and if he had looked down, he would have seen a familiar color, glinting back at him from the orbs surface.

**_Note from the Author: _**I'm really sorry but I probably won't be able to update this any time soon, with final exams and other things I have to do for college and all. i'll be working on it in my spare time, if I have any, and I promise to update it ASAP, but unfortunately that won't be for a while. To all of you who have gotten this far, thanks bunches, and loads of huggles to you, I really thank you guys for everything. once again I'm sorry for the inconveniance but i'm sure you'll survive, unlike me I'll probably pass out from all the studying ;)


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